Serbia, Ukraine prepare statement on continuing FTA talks – President of Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The governments of Serbia and Ukraine have prepared a joint statement on continuing negotiations on a free trade agreement, President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Marko Čadež said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"Ukraine is the only European country with which Serbia does not have a signed free trade agreement. After direct contacts between the relevant institutions on this issue were restored last year, during the visit of the Ukrainian government-business delegation to Belgrade this week, we are expected to make this long-awaited step forward," he said.

According to Čadež, the document is expected to be signed in the coming days by Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka and Serbia’s Minister of Domestic and Foreign Trade Jagoda Lazarević.

The president of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that there is interest in such an agreement from both the Serbian and Ukrainian business communities, especially in sectors where tariff reductions, simplified procedures, and more predictable business conditions could increase companies’ exports.

"That is why it is important that, as negotiations continue, we achieve a well-prepared sector-based agreement focused on specific industries," Čadež said.

He also said that the amended and simplified rules for the cumulation of preferential origin under the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention, to which both Serbia and Ukraine are signatories, could expand the component base for products traded under preferential terms with the EU, EFTA, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Türkiye.