Ukraine and Macedonia plan to update the provisions of the Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement in 2017 with the application of the rules of origin of goods stipulated by the Pan-Euro-Med Convention (pan-Euro-Mediterranean), the Ukrainian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade said after Ukrainian-Macedonian talks held in Kyiv on May 18.

"This will allow us to apply the triangle of cumulation (Ukraine-Macedonia-EU) with the application of the appropriate preferences in future. Macedonia supported such an initiative," the ministry said in a press release.

According to him, the negotiations were held by the Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Ukraine's Trade Representative Natalia Mykolska and Minister for Foreign Investments of Macedonia Bill Pavleski.

The Ukrainian ministry noted on May 16, 2017 the EU invited Ukraine to join the Regional Convention on the pan-Euro-Mediterranean Preferential Rules of Origin (the Pan-Euro-Med Convention), and the completion of this process is expected before the end of this year.

According to the State Statistics Service, Ukraine in 2016 doubled exports to Macedonia, to $25.91 million, while imports from Macedonia declined by 3.7%, to $11.71 million.