The political and economic Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine has been “a great success,” Federica Mogherini, high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy, said ahead of her two-day visit to Kyiv, which was to start on March 11.
In an interview with the UNIAN news agency, Mogherini said exports from Ukraine to the European Union grew by almost one third in 2017. That is backed by Ukraine’s own statistics: the volume of Ukrainian exports to the EU increased by $4 billion, to $17.6 billion, while imports grew by $3.7 billion, to $20.8 billion, in 2017, compared to 2016, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine reported in March.
Ukraine’s main exports were agriculture and food products, metal ores, and mechanical and electrical machines. The EU countries taking the largest volumes of Ukrainian exports were Poland, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary, Spain and the Czech Republic.
During her visit, Mogherini will have a number of meetings with the Ukrainian authorities and government officials, including the President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman on March 12.
She will also meet with Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and the Minister for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons Vadym Chernysh.
This is Mogherini’s second visit to Ukraine in the last three years: during her previous visit in November 2015 she highlighted the importance of implementing the Minsk peace accords and the trade part of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which came into force on Jan. 1, 2016.
The key messages on Mogherini’s agenda are the anti-corruption measures and Ukraine’s security.
Mogherini told UNIAN that some “crucial legislation for the Association Agreement still has to be adopted” in Ukraine. Work needs to be doubled in anti-corruption where the EU expects Ukraine to speed up setting an independent High Anti-Corruption Court, bringing the draft law on it fully in line with the recommendations of the Venice Commission.
While in Kyiv, Mogherini will also speak to students at the Taras Shevchenko National University, meet with representatives of civil society organizations, and with members of staff of the European Union’s Advisory Mission and the EU Delegation to Ukraine.
