Ukraine-EU Free-Trade Zone to Enter Into Force January 1 - PM Yatsenyuk

Nothing can derail the establishment of a free-trade zone between Ukraine and the European Union, the country's prime minister assured.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Ukraine has no plans on postponing the term for establishing a free-trade zone with the European Union and there will be no changes to the text, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Monday.

“After our negotiations, I think that no one has the slightest doubt that on January 1, 2016, the agreement on the full-fledged free-trade zone between Ukraine and the EU will be implemented. There will be no postponements from anyone, especially by Moscow, on this agreement, and there won’t be any changes to the text either,” Yatsenyuk said during the Ukraine-EU Summit in Kiev.

The Ukraine-EU Association Agreement is a treaty that presupposes a political and economic association between the parties. The association deal was signed after a new Ukrainian government came to power in 2014.

Moscow has repeatedly stated that the implementation of the agreement carries economic risks for Russian-Ukrainian relations, and could trigger an uncontrolled flow of duty-free goods from Europe, forcing Russia to protect its market.

Russia’s concern and the subsequent trilateral talks with Kiev and Brussels led to the delay of a free-trade zone's implementation to early 2016.

Last month, Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said that if the free-trade zone is established, Russia would have to take protective measures, including driving up customs tariffs on Ukrainian goods.