Turkey – Burak Pehlivan, head of the Ukrainian Business Association (TUID), said on Tuesday that Turkey opened a new business venture in Ukraine last year than any other country, including the US and China.
“Despite the ongoing war, Türkiye and Ukraine's economic and trade relations remain viable, dynamic and progressive,” Pelivan said. I said Ukrainian state-run Ukrinform News Agency.
“In 2024, 1,109 foreign-capitalized companies were established in Ukraine. About 20% of them were companies with the Turkish capital. Last year, Turkish companies accounted for the largest number of foreign companies opened in Ukraine,” he said.
“In total, more than 1,100 Turkish companies are operating in Ukraine today. Turkey's investment in Ukraine is approaching $5 billion,” he said.
Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan and Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelensky signature Free Trade Agreement (FTA) held in Kiev on February 3, 2022 – just weeks before Russia invaded. The signing ceremony was the culmination of ideas that were first proposed in 1998 and seriously negotiated since 2007.
At the time, Turkey was Ukraine's fourth largest trading partner, after China, Poland and Russia. China remains Ukraine's top trading partner.
Pehlivan, who chaired TUID when the free trade agreement was signed, predicted Ukrainian trade with Turkey would skyrocket to more than $10 billion a year due to a decline in tariffs.
“I want to make the cake bigger, just like my Ukrainian counterparts eat more cakes,” he gushed.
As things turned out, the cake had to stay in the oven quite long. Ukraine's huge metals and grain exports to Türkiye were massive Fixed points Free trade negotiations drag negotiations on 15 years. These sticking points remained, and Ukraine proved to be extremely reluctant to actually ratify the deal signed by Zelensky and Erdogan.
turkey ratification It was signed on August 2, 2024, more than two years after the contract was signed. The Ukrainian Parliament has not yet ratified the agreement to this day. If the transaction is fully effective, import duties for more than half of the industrial products traded between the two countries will be eliminated.
That's what Peliban was like. bright On Tuesday, the FTA was soon ratified by Ukraine and will be called “a step in the right direction of economic relations between the two countries.” Nevertheless, he said it was understandable that Ukrainians were slow to finalize the deal for the distractions of Russian invasion.
Pehlivan noted that in 2024, Turkey achieved its first trade surplus with Ukraine for the first time in 34 years, with the massive number of Turkish companies opening in Ukraine, as well as the volume of trade increased without an FTA.
Trade between Türkiye and Ukraine reached $6.2 billion in 2024. Despite Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Sviridenko, he was well below Pehlivan's $10 billion hopes for an FTA. I said In February, $10 billion in trade remains the “overall target” of both countries.
Türkiye Ministry of Defense hinted Last week, Turkey, which has the second largest permanent army in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), will be willing to donate its troops to multinational peacekeeping forces in Ukraine.
Turkish sources said a durable ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine must be acquired before peacekeeping can be deployed.
Russia generally rejected Ukraine's concept of NATO forces on the ground, but Turkey has a fairly good relationship with Moscow and refuses to participate in punitive sanctions against Russia.
Türkiye also helped broker The Black Sea Grain Initiative is a transaction that allowed Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea in 2022 to alleviate world hunger. Russia ended the agreement in July 2023 as it felt that Western countries had not travelled enough to lift sanctions on Russian goods.
