Ukraine has not received any signal from the European Union on ways to compensate for the losses that the country is sustaining due to reduced trade with CIS countries, in particular, with Russia, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yuriy Boiko has said.
“We have not received any clear signal from our European partners that the losses that we have sustained over the past four months will be compensated for… The country cannot afford it, therefore, this decree has been issued,” he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.
Boiko said that Ukraine hoped to get from the European Union the opening of markets for its goods, rather than monetary compensation.
He said that further work on the association agreement with the EU could be resumed after the economic situation improves.
Earlier, Boiko estimated the losses from the reduction in trade with Russia in August 2013 at UAH 30-40 billion.
He said he hoped that the government’s decision would help intensify relations with CIS countries, including with Russia, in the field of power engineering, aviation and space.
“I would name as a priority the production projects that give a special impetus to our economy. First and foremost, these are aviation, power engineering, space and all those projects that, unfortunately, have currently been halted,” he said.
He said that the implementation of only four such projects would help create an additional 40,000 jobs.
