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Veronika Movchan

Ukraine’s exports grow, driven by shipments to the EU

Ukraine’s exports continue to grow for the second year in a row, although at a somewhat slower pace than in 2017. The growth has been driven primarily by strong expansion of exports to the EU, where the DCFTA has been fully enacted since September 2017, although actual implementation started earlier.

  • Ukraine
NL 118 | August 2018
International Trade and Regional Integration

The destination of exports shifted away from Russia to the EU, and the share of the EU in total exports reached 42% over the first half of 2018. Still, about half of Ukraine’s exports of goods are designated to other trade partners, in particular in Asia.
Exports to the EU are still dominated by agro-food products, including grains and sunflower oil, and mineral and metal products. However, the role of machinery and equipment has been growing, largely thanks to shipments of ignition wiring sets. The production of wires and other automotive spare parts for exports has developed in Ukraine driven by FDI inflows. Between 2015 and mid-2018, 9 new factories producing wires and 2 factories producing car seat covers were opened in the country, creating together over 18 thousand new jobs.
There is also a growing diversification of exports to the EU. The number of shipped products increased by about 11% since 2013, mostly due to an increasing number of industrial goods.

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