Export of Ukrainian Products to EU Grows by 45%

To date, the European Union is Ukraine’s largest trading partner with a share of trade in goods of 40.2% of the country’s total foreign trade.

“Last year was the only one since 2014 when trade with the EU dropped. However, in the first half of this year, exports grew by 45% and reached $12.4 billion,” First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy of Ukraine Oleksiy Liubchenko said in an interview.

More than 14,000 Ukrainian companies export their products to EU countries, but so far Ukraine has a trade deficit with the EU, he added.

“In the first half of the year, it amounted to -$1.09 billion. Our task is to structurally change trade with the EU to make industrial goods dominate,” Liubchenko said.

Earlier, it was reported that Ukrainian companies increased exports of agricultural products to EU countries. Ukraine became the fourth largest supplier of agricultural products in the EU, trailing only the United Kingdom, Brazil, and the United States. Over the past seven years, Ukrainian exports to the European Union have grown by 60%. Major export items are cereals, oilseeds, and oil.

Earlier, the Prime Minister of Ukraine announced that this year the Government planned to revise the terms of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the European Union. In particular, the size of trade quotas, within which Ukrainian producers can supply their goods to the EU duty-free, is expected to be expanded.

Bohdan Marusyak