Ukraine's next big free trade agreement is likely to come soon with Canada, with an agreement signed this summer after a June 20 business conference in Toronto. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to visit Ukraine in July.
Negotiations are also under way with Turkey and Israel.
The Canadian agreement will open the North American nation to most Ukrainian goods, promote joint ventures and investment and help Ukrainian producers get access to raw materials. More details are here: http://me.gov.ua/Documents/List?lang=uk-UA&tag=Inf…
The biggest step forward this year came with a free-trade agreement that came into effect in January with the European Union. Ukraine has for several years had agreements with fellow Soviet republics.
Altogether, Ukraine has signed 16 free trade agreements covering 45 countries.
The “Ukraine-Canada: Open For Business” forum takes place at the Toronto Congress Centre on June 20. More information can be found here http://forum.cucc.ca/program.html
One of the participants, Daniel Bilak, managing partner of CMS Cameron McKenna, said the forum will provide “a unique opportunity for Canadian business to understand the impact of reform measures that have been implemented by Ukraine to date. The Ukrainian side will not only evaluate the export opportunities for Ukrainian goods, but Ukrainian government officials will hear first-hand what still remains to be done to improve the business climate to attract serious investment.”
Others participants will include: Diane Francis, a senior fellow of the Atlantic Council; Chrystria Freeland, Ukraine’s minister of international trade; Aleksandr Danylyuk, Ukraine finance minister; Nataliya Mykolska, Ukraine deputy economy minister: Igor Bilous, head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine; and Francis Malige, regional managing director for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; Zenon Poticzny, president of the Canadian-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce; Roman Waschuk, Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine; Andriy Shevchenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada; Bohdan Kupych, vice president of business development for KM Core; Dmytro Shymkiv, deputy head of the Presidential Administration; Lenna Koszarny, CEO of Horizon Capial; Taras Kutovy, Ukraine’s agriculture minister; Paul Grod, president and CEO of Rodan Energy Solutions and Andriy Kobolyev, CEO of Naftogaz Ukraine.
