Kyiv, July 1, 2015. Maksym Nefyodov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, has emphasized that legal changes in the area of state procurement will support Ukrainian producers’ entry into Western markets. Nefyodov presented a detailed outline of the forthcoming changes at the press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center under the aegis of Ukraine Reforms Communication Taskforce.
Mr. Nefyodov said that changes, which were approved in the first parliamentary reading on June 30, are aimed to harmonize Ukrainian legislation with the international standards and tackle corruption practices in state procurements.
The final approval of the bill is expected by July 16, so that Ukraine could join WTO agreement on state procurement as soon as possible. “We have presented the final proposal on Ukraine entering the WTO agreement on state procurement (WTO GPA) and we hope that we will be able to sign this agreement as early as December 2015. Such step will open state procurement markets of 42 member-states for the Ukrainian suppliers. The estimated worth of these markets is 1.7 trillion USD,” said Maksym Nefyodov.
After joining WTO GPA Ukrainian companies will participate in similar tenders on equal terms with other WTO GPA member-states. “It is a significant step to support the Ukrainian business, which will obtain access to markets previously unavailable to them. Thanks to the currency depreciation, many producers who have not thought of exporting their goods before realized their products acquired a competitive edge abroad. One of the easiest ways to enter a Western market is to participate in state procurements tenders as it is a standard regulated procedure in most countries,” said Maksym Nefyodov.