European Commissioner Hahn: EU will not refund Ukraine loss of Russian market after FTA introduction

15:12, 19.11.2015 1 min read

The European Union will not compensate Ukraine for the loss of the Russian market after the introduction of a free trade area (FTA) between Ukraine and the EU from January 1, 2016, European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn has said

"Of course, we have been and are still against any actions that impede trade, but we have issued a lot of money to Ukrainian businesses so that they could prepare for new export opportunities and new market conditions," he said in an interview with the Yevropeiska Pravda (European Truth) edition.

"Let's frankly say that since that time we agreed on a FTA it was not a secret that after its introduction Russia could respond whether we like it or not and there was enough time to prepare for this," the commissioner said.

Hahn also noted that the implementation of the Association Agreement will be a serious challenge for Ukraine.