Ukrainian president submits to parliament Ukraine-Canada free-trade deal

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday has submitted a Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) to parliament for ratification, the presidential press service said.

"The implementation of the document will promote the development of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, allow producers of goods to use benefits from duty-free access to the market of Canada, open opportunities for the Ukrainian business to expand their markets," said a statement on the Ukrainian presidential website.

Another aim of the free trade pact is to create new jobs, the statement said.

Ukraine and Canada have successfully concluded the negotiations on the CUFTA in 2015 and signed the deal in July this year.

Once the agreement enters into force, Ukraine and Canada will immediately eliminate duties on 86 percent and 99.9 percent of respective current imports, thereby benefiting exporters and consumers of both countries.

In 2015, the bilateral trade between Ukraine and Canada stood at 236.5 million U.S. dollars, down 10.5 percent from the year before.

The parliaments of the two countries are set to ratify the free-trade pact by the end of the current year. Endit