Ukraine and Turkey, within the framework of the Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement, have reached an agreement on the complete liberalisation of road transportation.

As part of the FTA, a historic agreement was reached on the complete liberalisation of road transportation. Restrictions for Ukrainian road carriers in the Turkish market will soon be lifted, in particular, this also applies to the entry of empty vehicles. That is, trucks will be able to enter empty and return with goods.

We propose to create special conditions for tuning transport chains in the “road-port-road” format.

Oleksandr Kubrakov, Infrastructure Minister of Ukraine

According to him, the strategic goal of Ukraine is the maximum removal of restrictions for Ukrainian carriers. The next step is to expand cooperation on combined and multimodal transportation between Ukraine and Turkey.

Kubrakov recalled that in negotiations with the European Union, Ukraine stands for the complete liberalisation of road freight traffic.

He also expressed hope that cooperation between Ukraine and Turkey in terms of road construction will be expanded thanks to new projects, including the construction of concession roads. Kubrakov also stressed that the countries continue to work together on an agreement on cooperation in the field of maritime search and rescue in the Black Sea.

This is an important issue for Ukraine, which arose sharply after the annexation of Crimea. An agreement with Turkey will help legally secure Ukraine’s areas belonging to it, improve the ability to conduct search and rescue operations. This will eliminate insinuations from the aggressor country about Ukraine’s failure to fulfill its international obligations.

Oleksandr Kubrakov, Infrastructure Minister of Ukraine

He also noted the prospects for cooperation between Turkish partners and the largest Ukrainian state stevedore – Yuzhny sea port, since among all Ukrainian ports it will potentially be able to receive the largest ships that will enter the Black Sea thanks to the new built Istanbul Canal.

Among the contents of the discussion of the FTA agreement is the expansion of the geography of air travel between the countries, including on the Istanbul-Uzhgorod route.