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Ukraine Wants Postponement of Changes as Part of Free-Trade Accord With EU
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27 October 2010
Ukraine said it wants to delay the elimination of duties on imported cars and increase grain-export quotas to the European Union as part of its free-trade agreement with the 27-member bloc.
The former Soviet state “needs to have a timeline for adapting industries that provide jobs for hundreds of thousands of people so we would not have catastrophic results” because of the elimination of tariffs, the country’s Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko said in an interview today in Brussels. “We would like to have this elimination in stages that would provide time necessary for the industry to adapt.”
Ukraine will miss the target date during a November summit for signing the so-called association agreement, which allows free trade and visa-free travel, with the EU for a second year. The country of 46 million people, sandwiched between Russia and the EU, wants to join the bloc and the association agreement is “seen by Ukraine as a major step forward toward the goal of full integration,” Gryshchenko said.
“It’s always difficult when you are negotiating and not dictating to say exactly when you will reach a level of understanding of both sides,” he said.
The EU wants to set too low a quota for Ukraine’s barley exports, Gryshchenko said. Ukraine was the world’s biggest barley exporter before introducing limits on shipments this month to avoid shortages on the domestic market after a dry summer damaged this year’s crops.
“Insisting on an abysmally small quota doesn’t really help to move ahead with the agenda,” he said.
Gryshchenko reiterated Ukraine will be a reliable transporter of Russian natural gas to Europe.
Source:
Bloomberg
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