You're reading: Ukrainian-EU free trade area incompatible with Ukraine’s accession to Customs Union, diplomat says

The establishment of a free trade area between Ukraine and the European Union is compatible with a CIS free trade area, but is incompatible with Ukraine's accession to the Belarusian-Kazakh-Russian Customs Union, says Ukrainian envoy to the European Union Ambassador Kostiantyn Yeliseyev.

“The establishment of a free trade area with the CIS, unlike accession to the Belarusian-Kazakh-Russian Customs Union, doesn’t go against a deep and comprehensive free trade area between Ukraine and the EU,” Yeliseyev said in an article headlined ‘Seven Myths About An Association Agreement Between Ukraine And The EU’ published on the Ukrayinska Pravda Web site on Wednesday.

Armenia and Moldova, which are Ukraine’s partners within the CIS, are also holding negotiations with the EU regarding their association agreements, which would include the establishment of a free trade area as well, he said.

Regretfully, most Ukrainian products do not meet EU requirements and therefore can be competitive only on markets traditional for Ukraine now, he said.

“At the same time, the chance of free trade with the EU will prompt gradual improvement in the Ukrainian production industry’s quality and efficiency and growth in the share of products having a high level of value added in Ukrainian exports. Trade only with the CIS may meet economic realities but does not encourage change, while trade with the EU is an investment in the future,” he said.

European Commission officials said earlier that Ukraine’s closer ties with the Customs Union and an association agreement with the EU are incompatible. At the same time, Kyiv, which is seeking to sign such an association agreement with the EU in the near future, has declared that it would be reasonable to adapt Ukrainian laws to some Customs Union standards.