Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara has called for the creation of a national system to coordinate activity on Ukraine's preparations for the implementation of the Association Agreement with the EU.
“We need to quickly set up a national system to coordinate activity on the implementation of this agreement and approve a program for its implementation,” Kozhara said at a joint meeting of the board of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and the Economic Development and Trade Ministry in Kyiv on Tuesday.
He said that Ukraine plans to sign the Association Agreement with the EU at the Eastern Partnership summit this November.
“I have a question: was everything done to properly prepare for the creation of the free trade area?” Kozhara said while addressing the board.
He also stressed the need to think when the temporary application of the Association Agreement could start if it is signed in November.
He also noted that the situation with foreign trade was not as positive as desired and that the trade deficit had been growing since 2005. In particular, according to Kozhara, this figure in 2012 was $16 billion, including a $10 billion deficit with the countries of the European Union.
In this regard, the minister said that it was necessary to facilitate the economization of Ukraine’s foreign policy and that this task had earlier been set by the president for the Foreign Ministry.
