The first official U.S. trade mission of 12 American companies will start its work in Ukraine in a few days, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv has said.

"I met with Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade of the United States Gilbert Kaplan in Washington ... In just a few days, the first official trade mission of 12 major American companies will go to Ukraine, which will look for profitable investment opportunities in Ukraine," he wrote on Facebook following the meeting on October 24.

The mission is scheduled for the end of October, but the exact start date of its work wasn't specified by the press service, referring to the agreement with the American side, the press release of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade reads.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the priorities of trade and investment cooperation between the countries, in particular, privatization as a tool to attract investments, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade said.

At the same time, the Ukrainian-American Trade and Investment Council positively assessed activities of working groups established to discuss technical, sanitary and phytosanitary barriers to trade and ways to minimize them, in particular, the working group on intellectual property rights.

"Their activities contributed to the adoption of a new law on collective management in Ukraine. They were constantly involved in solving important issues according to the law and ensuring the development of a transparent, fair and predictable system of collective management of royalty," reads a joint statement by Kubiv and Deputy Trade Representative of the United States Jeffrey Gerrish during the eighth meeting of the Ukrainian-American Trade and Investment Council.

The parties discussed the expansion of bilateral trade in agricultural and industrial products at the intergovernmental part of the meeting, the joint statement says.

At the same time, the United States expressed concern over the impact of the "informal" market on the ability of U.S. companies to grow in Ukraine. "Emphasizing the importance of a transparent and predictable legal field and regulatory environment, delegations discussed new proposed rules for electronic payment systems, as well as steps to deal with unforeseen situations regarding value-added tax refunds, transport logistics and export controls for agricultural products," the parties said.

The ninth meeting of the Council is to be held in Kyiv in 2019.