Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will pay a visit to Turkey this week, at a time when the pandemic which affected the entire world since March, not only restricted travels of individuals, but also dramatically decreased number of official visits between countries, and besides, just before the local elections to be held in Ukraine on Oct. 25. This is not the first visit of Zelensky to Turkey; as a matter of fact, the first foreign country he has visited after the presidential elections held on April 21 last year, has been Turkey and just three months after that, in an election period again, he has paid his first official visit to Turkey after the [arliamentary elections held on July 21, where the president’s party gained a majority of the parliament for the first time in Ukrainian history.
These two neighboring countries, not divided but indeed interlinked with each other by the Black Sea, continue to strengthen and deepen their political and economic relations in recent years, putting efforts to compensate lost times in the past. There is no doubt that the Euromaidan Revolution, which ended Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency in 2014, has significantly accelerated this process. The High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council established between Turkey and Ukraine in 2011, has gained a more meaningful function after the Euromaidan. Since June 2017, it has made it possible for the citizens of two countries to make their visits to each other without a visa. During the last five years, visits by political, scientific, economic, and trade delegations at all levels, have become more frequent between the two countries.
Cooperation between Turkey and Ukraine may also bring many benefits for the region
If we consider the level of current relations before the visit, indeed, there is high-level convergence, to an extent that may almost envy the other strategic partners of Turkey and Ukraine. Even the pandemic has not slowed this convergence down; on the contrary, it accelerated the process of getting closer, as if proving that two countries are true friends. Developments that we have seen one after another in the relations between Ukraine and Turkey especially recently show that Turkey and Ukraine are friends that stick by each other in their difficult times. As indicated in an interview given to BBC Ukraine last week by the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the first foreign minister who visited Antalya, the capital of tourism in Turkey, during the period of the pandemic, increasing and deepening cooperation between Turkey and Ukraine has the potential of bringing many benefits, not only for the two countries but for the entire region as well.
Turkey has been the largest foreign capital investor in Ukraine during the pandemic period
More than 700 Turkish companies conduct business activities in Ukraine and the total amount of Turkish capital exceeds 3.6 billion $ today. Employment by Turkish companies in many different industries in the country ranging from cosmetics to machinery, energy to production industry, and communication, has almost reached 30 thousand persons. Turkish investors rank among the top 3 countries which have the highest amount of foreign capital investments in Ukraine after the Euromaidan Revolution, and from March 2020 until today, Turkey has become the number one country making investments in Ukraine, particularly thanks to the effect of the renewable energy investments.
Turkish construction companies provide a significant contribution to the infrastructure of Ukraine
Construction of the deficient and stale infrastructure of Ukraine has been among the top priorities of the President Zelenskyy since the first day he has been elected. Concrete and positive results of the infrastructure improvement spurt called the Big Construction, have already started to actualize, and by the infrastructure investments which are planned to be increased more in the forthcoming years, it would not be difficult for Zelensky to be referred to as the most successful president in the fields of infrastructure and development in the country’s history. Turkish construction companies which have completed more than 200 projects with a total value in excess of $7 billion in the last 30 years, provide a significant contribution for said infrastructure projects as well. From your arrival at Kyiv Borispol International Airport to entry to your hotel in the downtown, you can see the contribution of the Turkish construction companies at all levels.
Ukraine has been the country where Turkish construction companies have undertaken the highest amount of works abroad, in the first half of 2020. Taking into account the fact that among the largest 250 international construction companies on earth, there are 46 Turkish construction companies; said success by the Turkish constructors in neighboring Ukraine, is not surprising.
Ukraine has provided lifeline support to Turkey in tourism
Ukrainians have provided lifeline support for the Turkish tourism industry this year, as they also did in 2016 which was another difficult year for Turkey. More Ukrainian tourists have visited Turkey in July and August this year, compared to the same months in 2019, and in said two months, there has been an increased only in the number of tourists who have come to Turkey from Ukraine in the World. Ukrainian tourists no more just visit tourism destinations like Antalya, Belek, Kemer, Alanya, but they also discover Marmaris, Bodrum, Çeşme, Cappadocia. And, in winter tourism, unless there is any restriction due to pandemic, it would not be surprising if Turkey’s name comes to the forefront again.
It is time for signing the Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and Turkey
Ukraine, during its 29 years of history, has gained the highest amount of foreign trade surplus, by an amount of approximately $ 40 billion from its trade with Turkey. However, we observe a decrease in the foreign trade surplus of Ukraine gained from its trade with Turkey, year by year. Lack of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), although there are excellent relations between two countries, has caused the foreign trade volume got stuck in a range of $5 billion.
Turkey and Ukraine are not competitors, but rather complementary economies for each other. Our focus is not on who gets the bigger share from the trade volume, we say let’s make this volume bigger jointly. As this volume continues to grow, welfare of the two countries’ people will improve undoubtedly. Without the FTA in place, the trade volume cannot reach the foreign trade target of 10 billion $, set by the leaders of two countries; and besides, Turkish investments in Ukraine continue to be limited to the services industry mainly. Upon signing of the FTA, it will also pave the way for Turkish companies to convey their market strengths to Ukraine, particularly by means of capital, technology, and know-how in the light industry.
There is a very bright common future in the aviation and space industry
There is a great potential of cooperation between Turkey and Ukraine, from underground to space. The aviation and space industry is a field where concrete results have been already started to be achieved. Ukraine empowers its armed forces by the drones it buys from Turkey and in some newly manufactured Turkish drones, engines produced in Ukraine are used. And, purchase of 48 new drones by Ukraine from Turkey, has been on the agenda recently. Space Agency of Turkey which has been launched last year, has signed its first cooperation protocol with Ukraine, and the new chairman of the Ukrainian aviation company Antonov has paid his first visit abroad, to Turkey. Two countries may jointly manufacture unmanned aerial vehicles, plane engines or even cargo planes jointly in the future. And, in the space and aviation industry, just like their general economies, they are not competing countries, but complementary for each other.
2nd Summit between Erdoğan and Zelensky this year
The Ukrainian president, just within 10 days, has first attended the European Union Ukraine summit in Brussels and then, paid a very successful visit to London. Thereafter, he has chaired, joint with the President of Poland Andrzej Duda, the Ukrainian-Polish Economic Forum. And, now he is going to meet the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in the second summit of the year. On Feb. 3, they have addressed almost 1,000 business people at the first summit in Kyiv, this was perhaps the most crowded bilateral business forum in the Ukrainian history.
The most important issue on the agenda of the visit, which is planned to have an intense schedule despite the pandemic; is of course the Free Trade Agreement. 99% of the negotiations have been completed at the technical level, regarding the Turkey Ukraine Free Trade Agreement, negotiations of which are pending since 2007. Now, the decision is at the discretion of the two countries’ Presidents, at this point we know that both Presidents have a strong will. It shall only be possible by this agreement, to increase the bilateral foreign trade volume, the annual amount of which is 5 billion $ currently, first to 10, and to 20 billion $. Investments, tourism, and energy are the other topics on the economic agenda. Considering the fact that the defense minister shall also take place in the Ukrainian delegation, it is also possible to say that cooperation agreements in the field of defense shall also be at the focus of the visit.
Ukrainian leadership, by the visits they make consecutively before the October 25 local is, intends to revitalize, gather steam for the reform dynamics, against which have been criticized to have lost its acceleration; and is putting efforts to create resources for faster economic growth and swifter development, mainly the infrastructure investments. Said intense traffic of visits and summits which shall be completed by the visit to Turkey, puts forward the economic and political priorities of Ukraine, better than we have tried to explain by the words here.
Burak Pehlivan is president of the Turkish-Ukrainian Business Association.
