(KYIV, Ukraine) – A free trade agreement between Ukraine and Turkey has moved into force after President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the ratification law. The deal opens direct access for Ukrainian businesses to one of the region’s largest consumer markets and sets new rules for manufacturing and export logistics.
The agreement is designed to build stronger two way trade ties and to help Ukraine modernise its own industrial base. A central aim is to create conditions that will expand Ukraine’s processing industry, moving the economy further towards higher value production rather than raw commodity exports. For Ukrainian companies, ratification removes trade barriers and offers a predictable legal framework for selling goods and services into Turkey.
The trade pact also serves a wider strategic purpose linked to Ukraine’s path towards European Union membership. It incorporates provisions from the updated Regional Convention on pan Euro Mediterranean preferential rules of origin. In practice, this means Ukrainian manufacturers can use Turkish materials and components in their products and still retain preferential origin status when exporting to EU countries. That arrangement is expected to support integration into European supply chains and make Ukrainian goods more competitive across the continent.
Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, approved the ratification on 14 July. The president’s signature completes the domestic legal steps needed to bring the agreement into operation. No immediate figures for expected trade volumes or tariff savings were released by the government.