Ukraine and Turkey have signed a Free Trade Agreement

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The Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and the Minister of Trade of the Republic of Turkey Mehmet Muş have signed a Free Trade Agreement.

The document was inked on February 3 in Kyiv in the presence of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

"The agreement will have an overall positive effect on the economies of Ukraine and Turkey and is mutually beneficial for our countries. In the industries that will work for export, new jobs will be created, value added will be generated, taxes will be paid. Ukrainian exporters will save about $370 million annually on customs duties. According to preliminary forecasts, the deal will provide an additional 2.2% of our country's GDP and up to 2.6% of household income annually," said Denys Shmyhal.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine noted that the agreement would allow for increasing trade with Turkey from $7.5 billion to $10 billion in 5 years. Also, thanks to today's signing, all the friendly countries of the Black Sea basin - Georgia, Moldova, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine - will be united by free trade agreements with common rules.

In addition, Ukraine and Turkey signed a number of other documents:

• Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Youth Policy inked by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and the Minister for Youth and Sports of the Republic of Turkey Mehmet M. Kasapoğlu.
• Memorandum of Understanding on Technical Cooperation between the State Tax Service of Ukraine and the Revenue Administration of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance of the Republic of Turkey inked by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
• Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of a Joint Customs Council between the State Customs Service of Ukraine and the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Turkey concluded by acting Chairman of the State Customs Service of Ukraine Viacheslav Demchenko and Deputy Minister of Trade of the Republic of Turkey Mustafa Tuzcu.
• Action plan between the State Customs Service of Ukraine and the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Turkey on mutual recognition of programs of authorized economic operators concluded by acting Chairman of the State Customs Service of Ukraine Viacheslav Demchenko and Deputy Minister of Trade of the Republic of Turkey Mustafa Tuzcu.
• Protocol between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Turkey amending the Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Turkey on Law Enforcement Cooperation of 4 December 2009 inked by Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Denys Monastyrsky and Minister of Interior of the Republic of Turkey Süleyman Soylu.
• Memorandum of Understanding between the State Enterprise Ukrainian Scientific Research and Training Center for Standardization, Certification and Quality Problems and the Turkish Standards Institution inked by Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and Minister of Industry and Technology of Turkey Mustafa Varank.
• Framework Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Turkey on Cooperation in High Technologies, Aviation and Space was signed by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov and the Minister of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Turkey Mustafa Varank.

Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine - Ukraine and Turkey have signed a Free Trade Agreement

The Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and the Minister of Trade of the Republic of Turkey Mehmet Muş have signed a Free Trade Agreement

www.kmu.gov.ua

 

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Free trade and drones: Turkey and Ukraine strengthen strategic ties​

By Christopher Isajiw


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Ukraine welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Kyiv in early February for a visit that underlined the deepening strategic partnership between the Black Sea nations.

Erdogan’s time in the Ukrainian capital proved highly productive, with officials from the two countries signing a range of bilateral documents including a long-awaited free trade agreement and a headline-grabbing defense sector deal paving the way for the joint production of Turkey’s highly rated armed drones in Ukraine.

Turkey and Ukraine’s new free trade agreement had been under negotiation for several years. Having finally been signed, it is now expected to provide an additional boost to what is already an expanding economic partnership.

Turkey has emerged over the past decade as one of Ukraine’s key business partners, with bilateral trade growing by almost 50% during the first nine months of 2021 to reach USD 5 billion. The Turkish and Ukrainian presidents have each expressed hopes that with the added advantages of the new free trade deal, annual bilateral trade volumes will increase to beyond USD 10 billion within the coming few years.

The strengthening relationship between Ukraine and Turkey goes far beyond economic cooperation. Ties have become more strategically important for both countries since 2014 and the onset of Russian aggression against Ukraine, with Kyiv and Ankara increasing cooperation in the defense sector and Turkey playing a prominent role in Ukrainian diplomatic initiatives such as the August 2021 Crimea Platform summit.

The Russian occupation of Crimea has provoked a particularly strong reaction from Turkey due to the country’s own long historical association with the Ukrainian peninsula, which was part of the Ottoman Empire for centuries. Today’s Turkey is also home to a multi-million strong community of Crimean Tatars. This has enabled Ukrainian and Turkish leaders to find common ground in denouncing widespread human rights abuses against the Crimean Tatar population in Russian-occupied Crimea.

At the same time, Turkey has sought to balance its support for Ukrainian territorial integrity with the need to avoid alienating Russia. During his recent Kyiv visit, Erdogan echoed popular Kremlin talking points by reiterating the importance of the 2015 Minsk Accords, while also offering to play mediator and host a new round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Erdogan is believed to have a complex but constructive personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin that reflects the strong links and common ground connecting their two countries. Turkey depends heavily on Russian gas for its energy needs, while Russians regularly rank as the number one customers of Turkey’s economically important tourism industry.

Turkey and Russia are also geopolitical rivals who have frequently found themselves on opposing sides in recent years in conflict zones ranging from Syria and Libya to the southern Caucasus. Some observers believe Ukraine now has the potential to become the most bitterly contested battleground so far in the struggle between Moscow and Ankara for regional influence.

The defense sector cooperation agreement signed by Turkey and Ukraine in early February is the latest step in an intensifying security partnership. Since 2014, Turkish defense companies have begun to play an increasingly significant role in the modernization of the Ukrainian military, while Ukraine has provided Turkish partners with access to its considerable defense sector know-how including the country’s sophisticated aeronautical industry.

By far the most eye-catching aspect of this cooperation has been Ukraine’s acquisition of up to 20 of Turkey’s sought-after Bayraktar TB2 combat drones. When Kyiv first deployed one of its Turkish drones in October 2021 to destroy an artillery position in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, the incident was widely reported in the international media as a landmark event and a potential “game changer” in the simmering conflict.

Ukraine’s successful combat use of its Turkish drones provoked a chorus of protests from Moscow along with Russian accusations that the presence of these unmanned aerial vehicles risked destabilizing the region. The incident has subsequently been cited as one of the possible factors behind Putin’s current saber-rattling troop build-up on the Ukrainian border.

With many more Turkish drones now set to be constructed at a new Ukrainian production facility, it looks like the Kremlin will have to get used to the idea of Ukraine’s enhanced aerial capabilities. Speaking following the recent signing ceremony in Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the agreement to begin manufacturing drones in Ukraine. “These are new technologies, new workplaces, and an increase in Ukraine’s ability to defend itself,” he commented.

Turkey’s economic and energy sector ties with Russia mean that there are limits to how far Ankara can go in its support for Kyiv. Nevertheless, the burgeoning Turkish-Ukrainian relationship is an important factor shaping the fast-evolving geopolitical balance in the wider Black Sea region.

Christopher Isajiw is an international relations commentator and business development consultant to private, governmental and non-governmental organizations.

Free trade and drones: Turkey and Ukraine strengthen strategic ties

Ukraine's President Zelenskyy welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Kyiv in early February for a visit that underlined the deepening strategic partnership between the two Black Sea nations.

www.atlanticcouncil.org