KIEV, Aug. 30 – An agreement on the creation of a free-trade area (FTA) within the CIS is strategically important for Ukraine and will effectively work for the benefit of all CIS member states, of the National Security and Defense Council Secretary Andriy Kliuyev said.

He said that owing to the mechanisms that include the agreement, Ukrainian producers are expanding their opportunities on access to the CIS market. He recalled that the CIS market was the largest market for Ukrainian goods. In 2011, it accounted for 42% of Ukraine's foreign trade turnover, or $72 billion.

Kliuyev also noted that the CIS market was especially important for Ukraine, because the lion's share of Ukrainian products with high added value, mainly engineering products, is supplied to CIS countries.