The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) will be applied by the European Union and Ukraine starting January 2016. The DCFTA should provide mutually opened markets for food and services both for the EU and Ukraine, as to create opportunities for businesses, investors, consumers and citizens, according to the European Organization of the Sawmill Industry (EOS).
At the moment, there is a logs export ban from Ukraine to the EU.
EU Trade Commissioner Mrs Malmström, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Mr Klimkin and the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Mr Ulyukayev met on December 21 2015 and discussed about Russia’s affairs on the implementation of the DCFTA. Unfortunately, no political agreements have been reached to find a solution to Russia’s concerns about the the DCFTA between the EU and Ukraine.
Russia did not take further retaliatory measures and the EU Commission advised for further discussions after January 2016, as to manage to find solutions to all specific concerns raised by Russia. These concerns come after President Putin has suspended all Russia's obligations vis-à- vis Ukraine on December 16 2016, including the trade preferences under the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) FTA.
As the EOS states, this decree might represent a breach on the part of Russia of the Ministerial agreement from September 2014 on the implementation of Minsk provisions.
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