Jan Tombinski, the head of the European Union’s Delegation to Ukraine, has said that signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union will not lead to a trade crisis between Russia and Ukraine, the Interfax Ukraine news agency has reported.
"I am deeply convinced that there will be no crisis between Russia and Ukraine because a trade conflict is not in the interests of the Russian Federation,” Tombinski said at the launch of the EU-Ukraine project called "Stronger Together" in Kiev on Tuesday.
According to him, Russia has "very good relations with the rich European countries and not only them" and if any negative decision is made in relation to a particular country, it affects relations with third countries.
"That is why I am convinced that there will be no trade crisis. The association agreement and implementation of this document will open prospects for entry into the European market for Ukrainian companies and the country’s economy”, said Tombinski.
He added that this would also be beneficial to Russia because economic development of Ukraine will also affect neighboring countries, particularly in terms of increased trade turnover, job creation, etc.
As reported, the Customs Union will step up protection of its domestic market on November 1, 2013, which will affect trade relations with Ukraine. The situation already escalated in late August, when Russian customs officials blocked import of Ukrainian goods into Russia.
