Minister Klimkin hopes Ukraine, Israel will sign free trade deal this year

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin says he hopes that a free trade zone between Israel and Ukraine will start operating this year.

The minister said this at today’s ceremony of signing of the Agreement between Ukraine’s Cabinet of Minister and Israel’s Government on temporary employment of Ukrainian workers in certain sectors of Israel’s job market and the Implementation protocol to this Agreement, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“Our relations with Israel are developing fruitfully. And I hope that this year an agreement on a free trade zone between the countries will start operating,” Klimkin said.

Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Eliav Belotserkovsky noted that this year is special for both countries, as 25 years ago the Agreement on cooperation between the two countries was signed.

According to him, Ukraine is where the largest European community lived, and that’s why there are close ties between the sides, particularly in the economic sphere.

In this context the ambassador said that the next sitting, the third, on the creation of a mutual free trade zone would take place in July.

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