Ukraine initiates termination of free trade agreement with Belarus

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine initiated the termination of the intergovernmental free trade agreement with Belarus at a meeting on Friday, 22 December.

Source: European Pravda, citing the Ministry of Economy.

The government approved a draft law that terminates the free trade agreement between the governments of Ukraine and Belarus and some other documents that provided for free trade between the countries and exemptions from such a regime.

The draft law will now be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) for consideration.

"It is clear that there has been no trade between Ukraine and the aggressor state and Russia's satellite, Belarus, for almost two years now. With these decisions, we are only bringing the legal framework in line with today’s realities," commented Taras Kachka, Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Representative of Ukraine.

The Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and Belarus has been in force since 1992.

By 2022, exports to Ukraine accounted for 10-11% of Belarus' total foreign trade revenues, while Ukrainian exports to Belarus generated 3.1% of total export revenues.

In 2021, Trade Representative Taras Kachka said that Ukraine would copy the EU's policy of imposing only targeted restrictions on Belarus regarding possible sanctions.

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