KYIV. July 31 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Only one third of Ukrainian exporters have used the EU autonomous trade preferences introduced in April 2014, according to a survey presented by representatives of the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting at a press conference held at Interfax-Ukraine in Kyiv on Thursday.

According to the survey, in May 2014 after the introduction of preferences, Ukrainian exports to the EU grew by 36.1%. In the period from May to December 2014, Ukrainian companies boosted exports of timber, industrial products, machinery, equipment and foods. However, from November 2014 exports to the EU started falling and in 2014 exports to the EU grew by only 1.5%.

In H1 2015, exports fell in all groups of goods by 25.5% which resulted in a decline in exports in all groups of goods.

Preferences positively influenced exporters to the EU, however their effect was not enough to compensate for several negative factors that affected exports in 2014-2015: occupation of parts of Ukraine, the decline of the prices of raw materials, and the increase of the price of imported materials and spare parts.

"The impact of the military conflict from the economic point of view today was larger than early 2014 compared to the expected impact," Institute Board Chairman Ihor Burakovsky said.

In 2014, the number of firms exporting to the EU grew by almost 50%, from 6,100 to 9,100, and the inflow of firms to the European market considerably exceeded entrance of new companies to the markets of other countries.

Businesspeople polled by the institute said that among key reasons why Ukrainian exporters did not use the benefits of the trade preferences are a lack of information, ignorance about the opportunities, a lack of time to enter or reorient to the EU market, and tough competition on the European market.