KIEV, May 18 - Ukrainian car manufacturers have proposed that car import duties be put in place if a free trade zone with the European Union is created, MP Tariel Vasadze, the head of the Ukravtoprom association council, said at parliamentary hearings at the Verkhovna Rada last week.

He said the import quotas were needed for the Ukrainian car industry to adapt to the new working conditions in the free trade zone. A transition period of at least ten years, during which car import duties would be gradually reduced, would help regulate the market, he said.

Car producers asked for this proposal to be considered during talks with the EU on the creation of the free trade zone.