Mr. German O. Gref, Minister for Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation, visited Kiev on August 19, 2005, at the invitation of the Ukrainian Economic Ministry S.A. Terekhin
Mr. V.V. Spassky, Director, Department for Economic Cooperation with the CIS; Mr. M.Yu. Medvedkov, Director, Department for Trade Negotiations; Mr. K.A. Androssov, Director, Department for State Regulation of Rates and Infrastructural Reforms; Mr. V.O. Nikishina, Head, Division of Access to External Markets, Department for Trade Negotiations; Mr. V.E. Ilyichev, Head, Division for Domestic Market Protective Measures, Department for State Regulation of Foreign Trade Operations and Customs Affairs; Mr. G.A. Scherbakov, authorized person of the Russian Ministry for Economic Development and Trade for the Kaliningrad Region; and Ms. T.S. Belikova, Deputy Commercial Officer of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, were also on the delegation of the Ministry for Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation.
As part of the visit, Mr. German O. Gref met with the Ukrainian Premier Yu. V. Timoshenko, Ukrainian Economic Minister S.A. Terekhin, and the Minister for Fuel and Power Industry I.V. Plachkov. The negotiations were devoted to a wide range of problems in different fields of bilateral economic cooperation, in particular, to the progress of Russia’s and Ukraine’s accession to the WTO, difficulties with the shaping of the Single Economic Space, free trade between the two nations, including signing of a protocol to repeal exceptions from free trade treatment, lifting artificial barriers in bilateral trade, and a comprehensive agreement on mutual pipe supplies.
Prospects of fuel and energy cooperation were discussed with the Ukrainian Premier Yu.V. Timoshenko and the Minister for Fuel and Power Industry I.V. Plachkov. On August 22-23, 2005, Mr. Plachkov is to continue negotiations at the Russian Ministry of Industry and Power Engineering in Moscow.
As mentioned earlier, it is important that the two countries should continue their dialogue, considering a forced pause in Russia’s and Ukraine’s negotiations, which was due to non-completion of establishment of the inter-state Russo-Ukrainian Cooperation Commission.
Trade and economic relations between Russia and Ukraine are developing rather intensively. Turnover between the two countries rose by 26.1% over 1H05 y-o-y, to $9,389.8 million, export increased by 25.9% (to $5,892 million), and import, by 26.4% (to $3,497.5 million). Ukraine heads the list in Russia’s turnover with the CIS states.
