The ratification of the agreement on association and a deep and comprehensive free trade area between Ukraine and the European Union is going according to the plan, said Valeriy Chaly, deputy chief of the Ukrainian presidential administration.
“We are following the schedule. The law regarding international
agreements clearly regulates the procedure, we are not restricted in
terms of schedule. A process is under way which is due to be completed
before September,” Chaly said on July 23, according to the president’s
press office.
Responding to criticisms about the process being protracted, the
deputy chief of the presidential administration said: “We are not
dragging on.”
Chaly once again emphasized the need for a balanced approach towards
ratification of the Agreement. He says that if the agreement is ratified
now, the national budget will lose around Hr 560 million
(approximately $50 million).
“Currently, exports go to Europe freely. If we ratify the Agreement
now, it will be enacted in such a way that we will lose two months of a
very profitable regime, that is Hr 560 million,” he said.
Earlier on July 22 the Batkivschyna Party’s parliamentary faction
demanded that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko urgently present in
parliament a bill on ratification of the EU-Ukraine association
agreement.
