Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Policy Sergiy Tigipko has said he believes that Ukraine's possible accession to the Customs Union will be profitable at the first stage, while Ukraine's membership of the EU is more profitable in the medium term.
"Of course, at the first stage there will be direct and quick benefits [from Ukraine’s accession to the Customs Union]. It’s unnecessary even to talk about this, because we’ll switch to domestic prices for gas, which is cheaper in the Customs Union, and to domestic prices of oil," he told journalists in Kyiv on Wednesday.
Tigipko said that "if we consider the medium term, then the European Union with its huge market is, of course, very attractive to us."
"And those countries that are members of the European Union or had association agreements received enormous benefits and their economies with time developed rapidly," he said.
Tigipko said that Ukraine should continue its European integration and hold talks on the creation of a free trade area with the EU, while simultaneously "developing friendly relations and a maximally open economy in relation to the Customs Union."
