The State Aviation Service of Ukraine believes that the postponement of the signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union will have no effect on Ukraine's accession to the agreement on the European Common Aviation Area. The State Aviation Service’s first deputy head Oleksandr Hrechko announced this to reporters, the CFTS correspondent reports.
"The Association Agreement initially contained no words about aviation. It is separated, and they do not intersect," said Hrechko.
According to him, Ukraine undertakes to introduce European norms on its territory, but it does not bear serious responsibility in cases where there is no opportunity to do so.
Additionally, the intergovernmental agreements that regulate the number of designated carriers and the geography and frequency of their flights will be terminated after the signing of the agreement. "If we are talking about the third and fourth degrees of freedom, it is not a global issue. We have open skies with Spain today. Essentially, we have open skies with Italy. If the French and Germans wanted, I think we would also have expanded the geography of flights during mutual negotiations. However, neither Air France not Lufthansa is demanding this," said Hrechko.
According to him, this is because the air transport market is not growing as fast as it was five years ago, when Ukraine just began the negotiations on open skies with the European Union.
As for separate memoranda, there will be only one such document, and it will involve certification of aviation equipment. "We have moved away from stopping equipment of Ukrainian and Soviet manufacture here. There was no conflict, and the Ukrainian aviation industry will not suffer in any way," said Hrechko. According to him, Ukrainian producers will now be able to apply for certification of their products in the European Union at their own initiative when they are ready.
