Main trade partners of Ukraine in % from total volume (export from Ukraine to other countries) in Jan-Sept 2019
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky expects growth in trade with Lithuania and encourages Lithuanian businesses to invest in Ukraine. “We expect that our bilateral trade in goods and services will exceed last year’s record and reach almost $1.5 billion,” he said at a briefing in Vilnius after a meeting with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda. Zelensky noted that Lithuanian companies are not leaving the Ukrainian market, and they also continue to develop investment projects. As an example, he cited the opening of the second Lithuanian solar power station in Ivano-Frankivsk region on November 27.
Zelensky and Nauseda took part in the fifth Ukrainian-Lithuanian Economic Forum.
“We respect every investor who already works in our country. This applies to everyone, regardless of business: from restaurants to the green energy sector. We will not take rash steps that would worsen the business environment,” the president of Ukraine said, speaking at the forum.
Top 20 countries Ukraine has posted the highest surplus of trade in goods in Jan.-Aug. 2019 (U.S. Dollars)
Ukraine from October 30, 2019 will return to the U.S. General System of Preferences, according to a proclamation of U.S. President Donald Trump. “On Saturday Kyiv time or on Friday night in Washington, the news came out that Trump has completely returned Ukraine to the General System of Preferences,” Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture, Ukraine’s trade representative Taras Kachka said at a press briefing on Monday.
He said that all 155 types of goods that were removed from the system of preferences, again will receive the possibility of duty-free trade in the United States.
“These are mainly food processing products – confectionery product… [and also] industrial products, especially complex engineering products,” Kachka said.
He said that the return to the system of preferences was made possible thanks to the progress in introducing new legislation on collective management organizations (CMOs).
“This is unlikely to affect trade statistics, since these are not mass products, but will positively influence small and medium-sized businesses,” Kachka added.
As reported, in 2018, the United States suspended the General System of Preferences, which allows the import of more than 3,500 types of goods to the United States duty free, for 155 types of Ukrainian goods due to systematic copyright violation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that trade between Ukraine and Belarus should exceed $6 billion.
“Trade between our countries exceeds $5 billion. I agree with Alexander Grigoryevich [Lukashenko] that we could and should achieve six, eight – we don’t want to stop – billion dollars,” he said at the Second Forum of Regions of Ukraine and Belarus in Zhytomyr on Friday.
Main trade partners of Ukraine in % from total volume (import from other countries to Ukraine) in Jan-July 2019