Deficit of Ukraine's foreign trade in February is $276.2 m, says economy ministry

Exports of goods from Ukraine in February 2009 grew compared to January by 2.2%, to $2.5 billion, while imports fell by 10%, to $2.8 billion.

"Thanks to trends in the development of Ukraine's foreign trade in February 2009, the balance of trade with goods improved by $361.6 million compared to January, and tentatively it will be $276.2 million in deficit," the press service of the economy ministry reported on Tuesday, citing Economy Minister Bohdan Danylyshyn.

He said that exports in kind in February grew by 10.4% compared to January, while imposts in kind fell by 1.7 times.

"The continuation of the present trends of the development of Ukraine's foreign trade will allow the country in the short-term outlook to improve its balance of trade in 2009 and see better results compared to 2008," he said.

Danylyshyn said that trade in January fell by 34.5%, to $5.5 billion, including a 33.4% fall in exports, to $2.4 billion, and a 33.7% fall in imports, to $3.1 billion. He said that the deficit of foreign trade of $637.8 million was $337.5 million better than in January 2008.