KIEV, April 14 – The deficit of Ukraine's foreign trade in commodities January through February 2009 was estimated at $708.3 million, down from $2.759 billion, the State Statistics Committee reported on Monday.

As the committee reported earlier, the deficit of Ukraine's foreign trade in commodities in the 12 months of 2008 was estimated at $18.532 billion.

The export of commodities in the first two months of 2009 shrank by 38.6% year-over-year, to $5.132 billion, while imports fell by 47.5%, to $5.840 billion.