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European Commission, Ukraine discuss conditions for signing Association Agreement

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Thursday he would sign the economic part of the Association Agreement with the European Union on June 27

© AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert

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Putin says Russia to be unable to keep zero customs fees if Ukraine, EU sign AA

BRUSSELS, June 20. /ITAR-TASS/. The European Commission is assessing legal consequences of Crimea’s secession from Ukraine and offers economic, trade and financial restrictions on Crimea with immediate effect, according to a draft roadmap of the EU-Ukraine association deal released on Friday.

In compensation, the EU offers Ukraine the most favored-nation treatment in trade, the creation of a free trade zone with a positive effect of €500 million a year from the removal of trade barriers and Ukraine’s participation in the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) program with a seven-year budget of €12 billion.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Thursday he would sign the economic part of the Association Agreement with the European Union on June 27.

In April, Ukraine signed the political part of the agreement with the EU, which makes up about 2% of the document. The remaining 98% deal with the creation of a free trade zone between the EU and Ukraine, which will basically mean that Ukraine will have to open up its market to European goods.

Ukrainian industrial products cannot compete on European markets: there is no demand for the defense industry’s products as EU countries are adopting NATO standards, while agricultural produce can hardly make their way to the saturated European market where even EU countries have to observe production quotas.

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