Europe and Asia: which countries Ukraine plans to conclude and update FTAs with this year

Taras Kachka, Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Representative of Ukraine, said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

According to him, among the top priorities is to complete the formation of an integrated trade space in the Black Sea region. To this end, it is important to develop partnership with Romania and implement the FTA with Turkey as soon as possible, he said.

"Upon ratification of this document, all countries within the Black Sea basin, with the exception of Russia, will be unified under a single system of origin rules and a unified certificate of origin. This will facilitate more reliable supply chains and enhance mutual understanding. Moreover, the situation with regard to food supply in Africa and Southeast Asia will change," the official explained.

In his opinion, the version of the agreement that is currently “on the table” minimizes the potential risks that some Ukrainian politicians and business representatives have previously mentioned.

"We see that Ukrainian business needs this agreement. At one time, many of my friends, MPs, and entrepreneurs were cautious about the prospects of the agreement, noting certain risks for the Ukrainian side. All their concerns have been considered," Kachka said.

The finalization of the agreements is a matter of the coming weeks, he noted.

In addition, Ukraine also expects to sign a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates by the end of the year. The trade representative recalled that with the start of large-scale Russian aggression, many local traders suspended operations with Ukraine, but now trade is returning, and there is a mutual interest in increasing its volume.

"We also plan to update the trade agreement with Norway, Switzerland and Iceland, the countries of the European Free Trade Association. The agreement was concluded more than 15 years ago and needs to be updated to provide greater market access, especially for agricultural products. We need to update the agreement with Montenegro, as we did with North Macedonia and other Balkan countries. We are planning negotiations with Mediterranean countries: possibly with Tunisia. Lebanon is also interested in cooperation with Ukraine," Kachka said.

Thus, he said, the project to create the most open trade area in the Mediterranean for Ukrainian goods will be completed.

Kyiv is also continuing its dialog with the Pacific region countries within the framework of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. For example, Ukraine is interested in updating the agreement on mutual protection of investments with Japan to add a trade component to it.

 "And there will be quite a few of these ‘non-global’ actions, which are important and consistent, by the end of the year. After all, our strategy of gradually improving access to all key markets for Ukraine remains relevant," Kachka summarized.

As reported, last week Turkey ratified a free trade agreement with Ukraine. The document still needs to be ratified by the Ukrainian parliament. The agreement was signed on February 3, 2022. The free trade zone is expected to increase trade between the two countries from the current $7.3 billion to at least $10 billion in a short time.