Economics professor Pavlo Haidutsky said foreign trade in Ukraine has created real preconditions for joining neither the European Union nor Customs Union.
In his article for the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia weekly, said that that moreover, the effectiveness of Ukraine's foreign trade with countries, which are members of the two unions, is narrowing.
“In the early 1990s, the main volumes of Ukraine’s foreign trade were in
the CIS. Over the past 16 years, the share of the CIS states of
Ukraine’s foreign goods turnover fell from 49.3% to 36.7%. The fall in
the goods turnover of Ukraine with the CIS was only partially
compensated by growth in goods turnover with the European Union. Mainly
the reduction was compensated by the increase in goods turnover with
other countries,” the economist said.
Haidutsky said that the effectiveness of Ukraine’s foreign trade with
the countries-potential integrators is permanently falling.
“Over the past 16 years the deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade with
the EU soared by almost eight times (from $1.2 billion to $9.2 billion)
with growth in commodity turnover of only 5.4 times. Over the period the
deficit of Ukraine’s foreign trade with the Customs Union also grew by
almost four times [from $3 billion to $11.7 billion) with the increase
in commodity turnover only by 3.6 times,” the professor said.
Ukraine’s surplus in foreign trade with other countries grew from $1
billion to $5.1 billion, or five times, with growth in goods turnover by
6.5 times, he said.
