Verkhovna Rada ratifies Ukraine-EU Association Agreement
KYIV. Sept 16 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada ratified the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement on Tuesday.
The agreement was ratified by 355 votes, none voted against it and none abstained (the total number of deputies is 381), an Interfax correspondent reports.
Twenty-six deputies did not cast their ballots.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko submitted the Association Agreement to the parliament for ratification the day before.
The document will take full effect after its ratification by the Verkhovna Rada, the European Parliament and 28 EU member countries. However, the EU will decide on the provisional validity of the agreement before the ratification process comes to an end.
Regarding economic provisions, at the Ukraine-EU-Russia trilateral consultations on September 12 it was agreed to extend for twelve months trade preferences for Ukrainian exporters enacted by the European Union in March 2014. The enforcement of other items of the free trade zone agreement was postponed until December 31, 2015.
The European Council will determine a procedure for the application of this document. It is supposed to specify a regime for its temporary use and to approve the one-year extension of unilateral preferences for Ukrainian exporters.
The parties to the Ukraine-EU-Russia consultations of September 12 issued a joint statement which said, "To be able to fully support the stabilization of Ukraine, the Commission is ready, in the event that Ukraine ratifies the Association Agreement with the EU, to propose additional flexibility. Such flexibility will consist in delaying until 31 December 2015 the provisional application of the DCFTA while continuing autonomous trade measures of the EU to the benefit of Ukraine during this period."
The two sides agreed to carry on consultations about Russian concerns over the Ukraine-EU Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area and said their progress would be assessed at trilateral ministerial meetings.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is drawing up a national program to support the implementation of the Association Agreement with the European Union. The program will be approved by the government. The Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly emphasized their intention to launch the reforms before the Association Agreement takes effect in order to reconcile national and European standards.
"The government will implement the agreement starting from the very first day; we have scheduled a government sitting for Wednesday and we will decide on the implementation of this agreement," the Ukrainian prime minister said.
Ukraine and the European Union signed the Association Agreement in two steps: the political provisions were signed on March 21, 2014, and the economic provisions were signed after the Ukrainian presidential election, on June 27.
