E.U. has prioritised the importance of keeping Ukraine’s economy moving for whicht it has announced unprecedented trade liberalisation measures like granting Ukraine zero tariff and zero quota access to the E.U. market
The European Commission has announced to suspend import duties on all Ukrainian exports to the European Union (E.U.) for 1 year, to support for a country which is struggling to defend its sovereignty against the invading Russian forces.
The European Commission has also suspended all E.U. anti-dumping and safeguard measures on Ukrainian steel exports for 1 year. The move is aimed to help Ukraine boost its exports to the E.U.
The request was first made by the President of Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He has been in discussion with the President of European Commission – Ursula von der Leyen on ways of supporting the Ukraine economy, beyond the macro-financial assistance and grants.
Taking it to twitter, Ursula tweeted,
Pleased to let President @ZelenskyyUa know of our proposal to suspend import duties on all Ukrainian exports to the EU.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) April 27, 2022
This is another strand of EU support to Ukraine’s economy, beyond macro-financial assistance and grants.
The EU continues to stand firmly by Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/TEH7DbI4DE
Zelenskyy tweeted,
Talked to @vonderleyen. Thanked the European Commission for deciding to abolish tariffs, quotas on 🇺🇦 industrial goods, foods. Discussed further support, including MFA. The European Commission President spoke about 6th sanctions package, which must include oil embargo.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 27, 2022
This is for the first time E.U. has announced such trade liberalisation measures, which are unprecedented in their scale like granting Ukraine zero tariff and zero quota access to the E.U. market. Since the start of Russian invasion, E.U. has prioritised the importance of keeping Ukraine’s economy moving. These measures will inject confidence into the Ukrainian economy and send a strong signal that E.U. will do whatever it takes to help Ukraine in its hour of need. Going ahead, the proposal will now seek approval from European Parliament and European Council.
Russian attack on infrastructure damaging production capacity of industries in Ukraine and blocking of vital export routes, is impacting its ability to trade with the rest of the world. The E.U. is already taking measures on the ground to facilitate overland goods transport to help to get Ukrainian products out into the world.
Separately, Ursula has warned the Member States from giving in to Russia’s demand to pay for the gas supplies in Russian Roubles, unless its explicitly mentioned in their contract. Prior to this, Poland and Bulgaria have said that they can survive without Russian gas after the Russian energy giant – Gazprom threatened them to cut off all gas deliveries to if they refuse to pay for the supplies in Russian Roubles.
