OREANDA-NEWS. December 16, 2013. Ukraine continues preparation to signing the Association Agreement and introduction of free trade area with the EU, seeking for better conditions of the implementation of it.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov stated at a meeting with representatives of agrarian business.

“For instance, the conditions of implementation of the agreement for our agrarians introduce a quota for sugar. In Hungary, for instance, it has led to complete disappearance of sugar plants. Do you want us to do the same? We will not do this… Until we have modernized all our oil extraction enterprises, we won’t abolish the duty on sunflower seeds. Let’s negotiate. We aren’t going to change the agreement, but the conditions of implementation of it, meaning transition provisions, let’s write aiming to make them favourable for us,” he said.

M. Azarov added in the course of talks with the EU the Government had known about the risks, though Ukraine’s economy had been on the upgrade then, there hadn’t been any artificially created trade problems with Russia.

“But when these restrictions were introduced against us, plus the global recession, we started feeling that we were on the edge. Let’s negotiate. Firstly, we need a loan approximately Eur 20 billion and on normal conditions. I don’t even want to hear that we should deprive the agrarian sector of that small state assistance that we provide, as subsidies in the European states, in particular of our nearest neighbors Poles, are much higher than in Ukraine,” the Premier stressed.
At this, he set an example: subsidies for cattle breeding in Germany make up Eur 3 thousand annually, Poland – Eur 2.5 thousand, France – over Eur 1 thousand.

In turn, the representatives of agrarian business stated their support of the decision of the President and the Government on suspension of the preparation to signing the Association.

They emphasized the agreement should take into account the transition periods for adaptation to the European conditions. In particular, the agrarians expressed concern that after coming in effect of EU technical norms milk, produced by private economies, could be sold neither in the EU nor on the domestic market. Moreover, on the data of agrarian entrepreneurs, strict requirements are to be introduced to production of meat, in particular poultry grown in non-compliance with the directives of keeping in cages with comfortable conditions. The agrarians stressed that the draft agreement contains a four-year transition period, however, through all these years goods from Europe will come, while products of national agro-industrial complex will not have the access. Apart from that, the private households, enumerating 4.5 mln in Ukraine, need state support to faster adapt to the EU requirements.