Vasiliy Yurchyshyn, an analyst with the Kiev-based Razumkov Center, said: "This is more of a symbolic than a material event for Ukraine. We were conducting foreign trade without this, and have been involved in the global division of labor as far as possible. The granting of market status means that the U.S., following Europe, is ready to declare Ukraine a reliable market partner."
Ukrainian news agencies reported earlier on Friday that the U.S. had awarded Ukraine market economy status with immediate effect.
The European Union declared Ukraine a free market economy at the end of 2005.
The U.S. decision will help Ukraine attract major foreign financial companies to the country, and help reduce the risk of sanctions against Ukrainian companies for dumping, Yurchishin said.
"The rules of the game have changed," he said. "Now, in the event of anti-dumping sanctions against Ukrainian producers, they do not have to justify themselves, as was previously the case. On the contrary, the initiators of such sanctions have to prove their guilt."
The decision should also boost the country's bid to join the World Trade Organization, he said.
"This decision is a clear signal that the U.S. will support Ukraine's WTO accession. Previously it was among the first to put the toughest demands on us, and equally harshly maintained them. It appears that this is also a signal to other countries with which we are holding WTO talks," Yurchishin said.
