Arseniy Yatseniuk: Ministry of Economic Development and Trade Representative of Ukraine trigger processes of considering trade disputes with Russia in the WTO

"We have formed a menu that enables Ukraine and the European Union, on the one hand, to enhance bilateral economic cooperation and trade turnover, and on the other - allows Ukraine to enter extra markets to compensate those significant losses inflicted by the Russian economic aggression. We rely on support from our European partners", stressed Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk at a Government meeting on Wednesday, January 20.

The Head of Government noted that the Ukrainian side had already had a series of technical consultations on this issue with the European partners.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk accentuated that the Russian Federation "used to violate, is still doing that and will continue violating all international treaties, starting with the large agreement with Ukraine and ending with all the economic agreements that were signed both in multilateral and bilateral format." He stressed that Ukraine sues Russia in the courts for the illegal annexation of Crimea, for the military aggression “and for violating basic rules and principles of economic coexistence".

He emphasized that the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine and the Trade Representative of Ukraine got a relevant commission and launched the process of considering trade disputes at the World Trade Organization: "I hope sincerely that our European partners who are the signatory to the DCFTA with us, just will fight for the economic interests of Ukraine and the European Union together with Ukraine to counter inept Russian economic aggression".

Arseniy Yatsenyuk stressed that Russia "has violated the basic principles upon which the WTO is founded": "They have actually banned our transit".

The train on the route Ukraine-Georgia-Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan, stressed the Prime Minister, is the first stage “to bypass Russia and create alternative routes of delivery of Ukrainian goods": "Initially it is more expensive than delivery via the classic route we used before. But in case we load this train and further increase the volumes of transportation, we will achieve the same transportation cost that we had before the introduction of the transit embargo by the Russian Federation".

Moreover, he stressed that the Government of Ukraine is grateful to the Belarusian partners, "as we manage to deliver Ukrainian goods through the territory of Belarus".