European Commission President Jose Manual Barroso has said that some measures taken by the European Commission to support the Ukrainian economy have had a positive effect.
Barroso informed reporters of this after a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Brussels on Aug. 30, noting that a package of aid worth euro 11 billion in total had been approved by the European Commission in March 2014.
One of most effective mechanisms of aid was the unilateral trade measures introduced from May 15 and foreseeing the cancelation of 98 percent of import duties on Ukrainian goods supplied to the EU.
“And the unilateral trade measures proposed by the European Commission in April have resulted in a 14 percent increase in Ukrainian exports to the European Union in recent months,” he said.
“The commission has also set up a support group to ensure that the Ukrainian authorities have all the assistance they need to carry out the political and economic reforms necessary to stabilize the country,” he said.
“This is of paramount importance. While the security situation is the primary concern of the Ukrainian authorities, the reform process, encompassing a broad national dialogue, constitutional review and decentralization is part and parcel of an overall political solution We expect the upcoming elections to help accelerate such reforms,” he said.
“Finally, we are ready to host a donors’ conference at the end of the year on the reconstruction of the eastern regions that have been particularly affected,” Barroso said.
