The share of the European Union (EU) of Ukraine's foreign trade has reached 40%, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"Recently the [Ukraine-EU] Association Agreement took effect. Thanks to consent of the European Union the year before last to temporarily apply it we can enjoy the preliminary results as growth of our export to the European Union. In particular, in H1 2017, this export grew by 23%, and the EU's share of Ukraine's foreign trade has finally reached 40%," the president said delivering the annual message to the Verkhovna Rada on Thursday.

He also recalled that in 2012, the EU's share of Ukraine's foreign trade was 30%, and in 2009 – 25%.

"This is evidence of the start of the integration of the Ukrainian economy into the EU market," he said.