22 june 2010 12:39 Ministry of Economy: export to EU almost doubles after Ukraine's WTO accession
Exports to EU member countries in 2008 increased by 1.7 times compared with 2007, including through the abolition of export quotas for steel products and light industrial products. During the period of a quota-free trade, exports of the Ukrainian textile products to EU countries more than doubled, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Valery Piatnytsky told the round table "Two Years of Ukraine in the WTO: Consequences for the Agro-Industrial Sector".

According to him, in 2008 a foreign trade turnover between Ukraine and the United States increased by more than 1.8-fold, and 1.6-fold with African countries. The subsequent increase in the volume of trade has been slowed down by the global financial and economic downturn.

"WTO membership has enabled our country not only to become a full-fledged player in the world market, but also take part in the formation of qualitatively new parameters of global trade in the coming years. An overview of foreign relations of Ukraine shows that WTO accession had a positive impact on the harmonization of trade-oriented laws of the state with a legal and contractual system of the WTO, and contributed to enhancing trade relations with member states of the organization," the deputy minister noted.

UKRINFORM