President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko emphasizes the need to speed up the signing of a bilateral agreement on free trade area (FTA) between Ukraine and Israel.

According to the press service of the head of Ukrainian state, the issue was discussed at a meeting with the Minister of Environmental Protection, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Zeev Elkin.

As the head of the Israeli part of the joint Ukrainian-Israeli committee on trade and economic cooperation, the minister informed the president of Ukraine on the results of its next meeting on October 5-6 in Kyiv.

Poroshenko stressed the importance of deepening cooperation in trade and economic field and accelerate the conclusion of a bilateral free trade agreement. "The need for the next meeting of the Commission was discussed during my recent talks with the President of the State of Israel Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. I am glad that the agreements are quickly implemented," he said.

The sides discussed the ways of intensification investment cooperation between the states, in particular, the opportunities offered to the Israeli business in connection with large-scale privatization, which is being prepared in Ukraine.

Poroshenko and Elkin also noted the success of the functioning of the visa-free regime between Ukraine and Israel, in particular, from the point of view of development of trade-economic cooperation and tourist exchanges.

President of Ukraine thanked the Israeli side for its active participation in the events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Babi Yar (Babyn Yar) tragedy.

As reported, in January 2016 Israeli ambassador to Ukraine Eliav Belotserkovsky said that the agreement on free trade area between Ukraine and Israel will have been signed before the end of the year.

In late September, Poroshenko said that Ukraine and Israel had agreed to accelerate negotiations on the establishment of an FTA between the two countries.