Ukraine ready to ratify FTA agreement with Turkey, to revise it in 2024

MOSCOW. July 5 (Interfax) - Ukraine stands ready to take steps required to ratify a Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement with Turkey, which was signed on February 3, 2022, Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yulia Sviridenko said in a phone call with Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat.

"I reassured that Ukraine is ready to take the necessary steps to ratify the Free Trade Agreement between our countries and begin negotiations on the revision of the document in 2024," Ukrainian media quoted Sviridenko's post on social media.

Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister and Trade Representative Taras Kachka also took part in the negotiations.

As reported, following 12 rounds of negotiations and a number of expert consultations between 2011 and 2022, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal and then-Turkish Trade Minister Mehmet Mus signed an FTA agreement between Ukraine and Turkey in Kiev on February 3, 2022. The agreement will take effect after its ratification by the parliaments of both countries and the exchange of ratification instruments.

At the end of last October, Sviridenko said that due to changes in the situation in Ukraine negotiations were continuing with Turkey to set a transition period for certain sectors of manufacturing industries, particularly the light industry. The additional agreements were expected to be reached in December 2022 to January 2023, which would pave the way for the ratification of the agreement in the parliaments of both countries, she said.