On Friday, December 4, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Ukraine Melinda Simmons.

The Prime Minister praised the tangible results achieved by both countries during the visit of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the United Kingdom in October this year. In particular, the conclusion of the Agreement on Political Cooperation, Free Trade and Strategic Partnership, which, according to the Head of Government, has brought bilateral relations between our states to a qualitatively new level of strategic partnership.

"We have already launched the necessary domestic procedures for ratification of the Agreement. We hope to ratify the Agreement by the end of December," said Denys Shmyhal.

The Head of Government underlined that the new Agreement on Political Cooperation, Free Trade and Strategic Partnership between Ukraine and Great Britain apart from guaranteeing the continuity of free trade also envisages an opportunity to strengthen strategic relations in the political and trade spheres.

Denys Shmyhal placed a special emphasis on the fact that this would also have a positive impact on bilateral trade and proposed to hold talks by the end of the month on the quota mechanism and other issues of the FTA from January 1, 2021.

Apart from that, the PM aired a proposal to the British side to support the initiative to launch a technical assistance project for exporters and investors.

"This will enable us to fully use the potential of the Agreement and to establish a fruitful cooperation between the businesses of both countries, so that we can start teaching entrepreneurs to cooperate amid new conditions," underlined Denys Shmyhal.

During a meeting, Denys Shmyhal  told the UK Ambassador Melinda Simmons that Ukraine pins high hopes on the development of bilateral cooperation and the launch of joint projects under the signed Memorandum of Understanding between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the UK Export Credit Agency on credit guarantees.

The Prime Minister invited the British side to work together to promote this tool in both the public and private sectors.

"I invite a British business delegation led by representatives of the Export Credit Agency to visit Ukraine and to hold meetings with Ukrainian business and partners as soon as the situation with the coronavirus allows. We are ready to join this process and to host such meetings at the Cabinet of Ministers or the Chamber of Commerce and Industry," stressed Denys Shmyhal.

The Head of Government dwelled on the importance of a number of agreements reached on deepening Ukrainian-British cooperation in the field of security and defense.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister stressed that Ukraine stands ready for close cooperation in the implementation of eco-initiatives that may be presented at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, which will take place in the UK.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal thanked for the continued support by the United Kingdom for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.