Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Taras Kachka states that Ukraine expects to become a candidate for membership in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2026.
"For Ukraine, membership in the OECD is extremely important... For us, it is important that since 2022 we have been implementing a document called the 'Program for Ukraine,' an individual program that prepares us for accession to the European Union. And during this time, we have joined more than 50 legal instruments in the OECD. This is a very important story. And we have also undergone assessments in many areas. Today, three more assessments were presented to us," Kachka said at a joint press conference with OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann in Kyiv on Tuesday.
In particular, the OECD reviews of Ukraine's policies in the areas of infrastructure, public administration, and the justice system were presented.
According to Kachka, today Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko will hand over an updated letter regarding Ukraine's request for membership in the Organisation to the Secretary General.
"This will mean our expectation that this year the OECD member states will make a decision on providing the document that leads us toward accession to this organization," he added.
He noted that the current "Program for Ukraine" has helped very well to expand participation in the OECD legal instruments.
"We expect this year, and actually the updated letter will give an impetus for a discussion among the OECD member states regarding the decision to grant candidate status and start working on the roadmap for Ukraine's accession to the EU. This is a complete analogue of cluster benchmarks. We very much hope that this decision will be made this year," the deputy prime minister said.
According to him, the OECD member states support this ambition, accordingly, Ukraine can move quickly.
The OECD is an international organization uniting 38 countries of the world, most of which are countries with high citizen income and a high human development index and are considered developed.
Cooperation between Ukraine and the OECD was initiated in 1997 through the signing of an Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the OECD on privileges, immunities, and facilities granted to the OECD on the territory of Ukraine. The agreement was ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in July 1999.
To date, cooperation between Ukraine and the OECD is carried out in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Ukraine and the OECD on deepening cooperation dated October 2014.
As reported, in March, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andriy Sybiha declared Ukraine's desire to receive OECD candidate status as early as 2026.
In mid-December 2025, Ukraine became a member of the OECD Working Group on Bribery.
