Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany Pavlo Klimkin has said that German business supports the signing of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement as well as the abolition of visas for Ukrainians.
“German business has been consistently advocating the signing of the agreement, because according to surveys, they identified Ukraine as one of the world’s ten most interesting targets for German investment in the medium term, and the only target on the European continent,” the ambassador said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Klimkin, the future free trade area is expected to make Ukraine more familiar and understandable not only for large German companies, which are willing and able to work in Ukraine, but also for smaller enterprises, which are the basis of the German economy.
“The similar prospect will open for Ukrainian small and medium-sized businesses, as well. Therefore, firstly the German business has consistently supported the signing of the Association Agreement. Secondly, German business has consistently advocated the relaxation and the eventual abolition of the visa regime with Ukraine. The business has repeatedly said including to the government, that there should be constant progress in this area. The thing is that the internal politics of Germany is not always quick to respond to such requests,” he told the agency.
As an example of German companies that are interested in close cooperation with Ukraine, Klimkin noted the recent opening of a joint production of combine harvesters of the German company CLAAS.
Meanwhile, it is difficult for many German politicians to explain to the voters that the visa regime with Ukraine will be abolished soon, the ambassador added.
