
PM says Government to introduce countersanctions against Russian products
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has
approved amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Foreign Economic
Activities" (as to providing the Government with the right to apply
appropriate economic measures against the state-aggressor) № 898-VIII, which enables
the Cabinet of Ministers to introduce analogous restrictive measures against the Russian Federation in case of imposing an embargo on
Ukrainian products by Russia.
This bill has
been supported by 291 MPs.
Presenting the
bill at Parliament, Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy
Yatsenyuk said that the Russian Federation for a long
time "tried and keeps trying to fight Ukraine down not only by using military,
financial measures, but also by economic pressure and economic impact":
"The main goal of the Russian Federation was to
prevent a free trade area between Ukraine and the European Union from coming
into force."
He recalled that
during the current year the Ukrainian side had been holding dozens of
consultations in Brussels together with European partners and invited relevant representatives
of Russia to discuss the implementation of the agreement on a free trade area,
"I can clearly state that the Russia’s purpose was not to resolve economic
issues, but to impede the entry into force of the FTA agreement,
as
well as to deprive the Ukrainian people of their right to receive a visa-free
regime," emphasised Arseniy
Yatsenyuk.
In response to the
continued consultations, the Prime Minister stressed, "Russia, as
expected, has introduced a trade embargo on Ukrainian products, which will take
effect from January 1 next year": "This is not the first decision of
the Russian Federation, but the ongoing pressure of Russia on Ukraine over the
last decade in
order to disable the Ukrainian economy from developing and continue pressure on
Ukraine by all possible means."
"However, the
Ukrainian side gave and will give an appropriate response to these Russian decisions,"
he stressed.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk reminded that, in the last three years, Ukraine "reduced
three times its dependence on Russia": "If three years ago the volume
of exports from Ukraine to Russia amounted about 35%, today we have reduced
dependence on the Russian market three times, and it makes up only 12 %."
The Cabinet of
Ministers of Ukraine appealed to the MPs of Ukraine to adopt amendments to the
law on foreign trade. The
adoption of these changes will enable the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to introduce
analogous restrictive measures against the Russian Federation on January 1 next
year.
"We will be protecting
Ukraine’s domestic market," pointed out Arseniy Yatsenyuk.