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                        THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2024
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Nation    

Putin aide threatens loss of $12b trade
Journal Staff Report

MOSCOW, Sept. 30 – Ukraine may lose up to $12 billion annually in trade with Russia after signing a free trade agreement with the European Union, a senior Russian official said Monday.

Sergei Ivanov, the chief of staff at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration, said the move would effectively destroy Ukraine’s aerospace and shipbuilding sectors.

“What are the consequences of this choice?” Ivanov said, according to RIA Novosti. “Ukraine will lose $12 billion a year in trade with Russia.”

“This will mean the end of the remnants the Ukrainian aerospace and aircraft industry, shipbuilding,” Ivanov said. “The nuclear industry is already gone.”

The comment is the latest of Russia’s persistent attempts to try to prevent the signing of the agreements between Ukraine and the EU at a summit due in November in Vilnius.

The developments come after Russia has imposed a three-day blockade on imports of Ukrainian goods in August by listing all Ukrainian companies as suspicious. The move was meant to show Ukraine the kind of pressure the country was going to face after signing the deal with the EU.

Russia said the restrictions are needed to prevent an influx of illegal imports of European goods to its territory via Ukraine after Kiev moves to lower duties following the EU free trade deal.

Russian officials, including Sergei Glazyev, a trade advisor to Putin, said recently that Ukraine would face financial catastrophe and default if its goes ahead with signing the EU agreements.

Putin said earlier that Ukraine would gain $9 billion annually after joining a Moscow-led Customs Union, a trade bloc that also includes Belarus and Kazakhstan, via cheaper natural gas imports.

The European Parliament earlier this month approved a resolution that called on Russia to respect the right of the EU’s neighbors, such as Ukraine, to choose their foreign policies.

The resolution also called on the EU to defend the Eastern Partnership countries that have been exposed to Russia’s “open, alarming and escalating” pressures.

European lawmakers called on the European Commission and the Council to come forward with "concrete and effective measures" to support the partner countries in their European aspirations and choices.

Prime Minister Mykola Azarov last week suggested using rules and regulations of the World Trade Organization to prevent an escalation of a trade dispute with Russia later this year. (tl/ez)




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