ST. PETERSBURG, Nov. 20 - Ukraine lost approximately 25% of its trade with the CIS countries this year and these are considerable economic losses for the country, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said.

"If in 2012 we had a considerable trade turnover gain, in 2013 we lost about a quarter in the cooperation with the CIS market," Azarov said at a news conference joint with his Russian and Belarusian counterparts Dmitry Medvedev and Mikhail Myasnikovich in St. Petersburg on Wednesday.

"Of course, these are major economic losses for us, and Ukraine experiences very serious difficulties due to this," Azarov said.