Türkiye has officially ratified a free trade agreement with Ukraine. Signed in February 2022, the deal was formally approved by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on August 1.
Trade Minister Ömer Bolat announced that the trade volume between Türkiye and Ukraine reached $7.3 billion in 2023, following a meeting with Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister.
Bolat emphasized that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is expected to boost this trade volume to $10 billion in the near future. He also highlighted the ongoing efforts to enhance cooperation and increase mutual trade and investments between the two nations based on shared interests.
“Turkish companies will take an active part in the implementation of the Türkiye-Ukraine Task Force for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, which we mutually signed in Istanbul in January this year,” he added.
The agreement eliminates import duties on 93.4% of industrial goods and 7.6% of agricultural products for Turkish imports.
Svyridenko hailed the ratification, stating it would unite Black Sea countries, excluding Russia, into a mutually beneficial economic bloc.
She further mentioned that Türkiye has effectively become a hub for distributing Ukrainian grain to other countries, with shipments sent to African nations, including 25,000 tons to Nigeria and 15,000 tons to Sudan. Discussions between the two officials also covered regional trade, navigation security, and the demining of the Black Sea.
Key trade sectors between the two nations include metallurgy, engineering, energy, automotive, and grain.
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