You're reading: Russian Economics Ministry: Ukraine ready to sign free trade agreement

Ukraine is ready to sign a unified agreement on a free trade zone being drawn up by the CIS.

"They are ready to sign," the head of CIS integration in the Russian Economic Development Ministry Andrei Tochin told journalists on Tuesday. However, there are unsettled technical issues with Azerbaijan and serious differences with Uzbekistan, he said.

Uzbekistan "believes this draft agreement could seriously harm their trade regime," he said.

The draft agreement on the free trade zone was examined on Tuesday at a meeting of the CIS Economic Council. The draft will be amended and submitted at the next meeting of the CIS heads of state, CIS Executive Secretary Sergei Lebedev said. It had been scheduled for review at the next meeting of the CIS Economic Council in Moscow on September 9.