The European Union is now the main trading partner of Ukraine, its share is more than 40% of all trade in our country. Export and import between Ukraine and the EU changed, due to the Free Trade Zone agreement.
For more than four years, since January 1, 2016, an agreement on a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) between Ukraine and the European Union has been in force. The volume of exports and imports of goods over these years of the agreement increased. But still, Ukraine buys more goods in the European Union than it sells.
Compared to the period before the FTZ, Ukraine began to import much more goods from Croatia, Italy, Czech Republic, Romania, Lithuania and Ireland. But the volume of imports from Malta, Luxembourg and Hungary, on the contrary, decreased. Over the past year, Ukraine has most of all purchased goods in Germany, Poland and Italy.
After the introduction of the FTZ, Ukraine began to sell more goods in Belgium, Ireland, Malta, Estonia, Luxembourg, Slovenia and the Netherlands. Exports to Portugal, Finland and Cyprus have declined significantly.
In 2015, when there was no FTZ, Ukraine imported goods for $ 15.3 billion, in 2016 - for 17.1 billion, in 2017 - 20.8 billion, in 2018 - 23, 2 billion dollars. Over the past year, imports amounted to $ 25 billion, an increase of more than 63% during the operation of the FTZ.
The volume of exports of goods from Ukraine to the European Union in 2015 amounted to 13 billion dollars, in 2016 - 13.5 billion, in 2017 - 17.5 billion, in 2018 - 20.2 billion dollars, last year - 20.8 billion (increase of more than 59.4%, since the start of the FTZ).
