On Tuesday, July 5, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman met with the Secretary General and the heads of the embassies of the member countries of the GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development. The sides coordinated efforts aimed at deepening trade and economic cooperation between members, discussed practical measures regarding the introduction of a free trade area between the member states.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the countries have great potential both for multilateral cooperation and development of bilateral relations. In particular, it is important to pay attention to the use of transport and transit potential.

Also it is necessary to reassess the economic and trade opportunities for the member countries, especially important taking account of the challenges of "illegal approaches to trade restrictions against Ukraine," Volodymyr Groysman pointed out. He called for the creation of business platforms within GUAM to exchange views on investment attraction and economic development.

The Prime Minister stressed the need for the introduction of a free trade area between the GUAM member states. "I deem it would be extremely useful for us to implement in life an FTA. This is an extremely important decision to be undertaken as soon as possible," he said.

Volodymyr Groysman emphasized the importance of strengthening the cooperation of GUAM with the United States, Japan, Visegrad Group and Baltic countries. "GUAM plus format is very appropriate for our joint further cooperation," he noted.

The Prime Minister took the initiative to convene a meeting of heads of governments of GUAM countries in autumn this year in Kyiv, which would be focused on a free trade zone, enhancing economic cooperation and the possibility of creating interaction bodies between businesses. "It is time when we can reinforce our cooperation," he said.

The Ambassadors of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Moldova thanked Volodymyr Groysman for his initiative to hold a meeting of the GUAM Prime Ministers. It was agreed to start practical work on the preparation and content of this multilateral event.

The interlocutors also discussed issues of bilateral cooperation between the countries, including the increase of trade turnover and the implementation of joint infrastructure projects.

The parties agreed to resume Ukrainian-Georgian and Ukrainian-Moldovan intergovernmental commissions on trade and economic cooperation and hold appropriate joint meetings in September.

The meeting was attended by GUAM Secretary General of Altai Efendiev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to Ukraine Mikheil Ukleba, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Moldova to Ukraine Ruslan Bolbochan and Charge d'Affaires of Azerbaijan in Ukraine Nazim Aliyev.