Ukraine and the EU are creating a unified logistics space for goods and services

The Ukrainian government is working on establishing a single logistics space with the European Union. As emphasized by the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, work is being done in several key areas to create conditions for the quick and hassle-free crossing of people and movement of goods and services in both directions across the border. The first area is the "transport visa-free regime" with the EU, which means that Ukrainian carriers no longer need separate permits. The second important area of work is the modernization of border infrastructure and crossing points. Ukraine aims to upgrade 29 crossing points and build 17 new ones by 2030. This work will be carried out in close cooperation with our western neighbors. The third area the government is developing is the Ukrainian maritime corridor. Over the past one and a half years of its operation, more than 100 million tons of cargo have been transported to 53 countries.

In turn, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine plans to pass laws on Eurointegration in an expedited manner. This was stated by the Speaker of Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, at the conference "Ukraine's Accession to the EU: Shaping the Transformation Agenda." He noted that the eurointegration process is colossal in scale and will require maximum clarity and the concentration of all democratic institutions, particularly demanding the reform of many processes in the Verkhovna Rada. At the same time, the head of the Verkhovna Rada specified that this draft law is already under consideration in the parliament committees and, in his opinion, the document "has the potential to be adopted."

It is worth noting that in 2024, mutual trade in agricultural products between Ukraine and the European Union amounted to almost $17 billion, the highest figure during the operation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, and 3% higher than the previous record of 2022 ($16.5 billion). According to Mykola Puhachov, deputy director of the Institute of Agrarian Economics, the main European partners for Ukraine last year were Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Romania, France, and Belgium. These countries represent 80% of Ukraine's total trade turnover in agro-food products with the European Union. Last year, Ukraine imported agricultural products from EU member states worth about $4 billion.