EU association agreement ratification goes as planned - Ukrainian official
The ratification of the agreement on association and a deep and comprehensive free trade area between Ukraine and the European Union is going according to schedule, said Valeriy Chaly, deputy chief of the Ukrainian presidential administration.
"We are following the schedule. The law regarding international agreements clearly regulates the procedure, we are not restricted in terms of schedule. A process is under way which is due to be completed before September," Chaly said on Wednesday, according to the president's press office.
Responding to criticisms about the process being protracted, the deputy chief of the presidential administration said: "We are not dragging on."
Chaly once again emphasized the need for a balanced approach towards ratification of the Agreement. He says that if the agreement is ratified now, the national budget will lose around UAH 560 million (approximately $50 million).
"Currently, exports go to Europe freely. If we ratify the Agreement now, it will be enacted in such a way that we will lose two months of a very profitable regime, that is UAH 560 million," he said.
Earlier on Wednesday the Batkivschyna Party's parliamentary faction demanded that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko urgently present in parliament a bill on ratification of the EU-Ukraine association agreement.