Parliament has ratified a free trade agreement with Turkey: what will change
UNIAN reports this from the chamber of the Verkhovna Rada.
The agreement provides for the gradual abolition or reduction of customs duties in bilateral trade. Ukrainian producers will gain fully liberalised access to the Turkish market for 84 per cent of export product groups.
Tariff quotas are also provided for a further 6 per cent of goods, within which zero or reduced customs duties will apply. The terms will depend on the specific products and the volumes set out in the agreement.
What Ukrainian businesses stand to gain
Oleksiy Sobolev, Minister for the Economy, Environment and Agriculture, stated in parliament that the agreement is intended to simplify Ukrainian companies’ access to the Turkish market, expand export opportunities and stimulate the modernisation of production.
According to him, in 2025, Turkey ranked second among destinations for Ukrainian exports and third in terms of total trade turnover.
Trade between the countries reached $7.9 billion. Ukrainian exports to Turkey increased by 23 per cent over the year, to $2.7 billion.
“This confirms that the economic partnership between our countries is developing dynamically and has significant potential,” said Sobolev.
At the same time, the free trade area provides for the mutual opening of markets. This means not only additional opportunities for Ukrainian exporters, but also increased competition from Turkish manufacturers in the Ukrainian market.
Businesses in the light industry, agriculture, metallurgy and building materials sectors are likely to feel this most keenly. The specific consequences will depend on the timetables for the removal of customs duties, tariff quotas and rules of origin.
The agreement had been awaiting ratification for over four years
Ukraine and Turkey signed the agreement on 3 February 2022 in Kyiv. The document was signed on behalf of the Ukrainian government by the then Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, and on behalf of Turkey by the Minister of Trade, Mehmet Mush.
Turkey completed the ratification of the agreement in August 2024. The Ukrainian side had already declared its readiness to approve the document in March 2025, but parliament only passed the relevant law in July 2026.
Once passed by the Verkhovna Rada, the law must be signed by the president. The free trade regime will come into effect once the parties have completed all the procedures set out in the agreement.
Kyiv and Ankara expect that the removal of trade restrictions will help increase bilateral trade to 10 billion dollars.
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