This was stated by Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine for European Integration Olga Trofimtseva during the opening agroforum "Ukraine – Turkey: expansion of cooperation in the agricultural sector." The Forum was held on 28 November at the Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, with attendance of Mr. Mehmet Daniş, the Deputy Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock of Turkish Republic and repre

Today Turkey is an important partner for Ukraine in the agricultural sector, but it is not only about trade. We have many different joint projects for bilateral cooperation in various promising directions.

This was stated by Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine for European Integration Olga Trofimtseva during the opening agroforum "Ukraine – Turkey: expansion of cooperation in the agricultural sector." The Forum was held on 28 November at the Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, with attendance of Mr. Mehmet Daniş, the Deputy Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock of Turkish Republic and representatives of 120 Turkish companies. The higher business interests in cooperation and implementation of joint projects we have, the greater is a probability of successful completion of negotiations on the FTA between the two countries.

"The bilateral agricultural trade between Ukraine and Turkey for 10 months of 2016 has already crossed the mark of $ 700 million, so at the end of the year, I hope we will have a volume of trade no less than in 2015" – the Deputy Minister said.

Olga Trofimtseva added that today Turkey ranks the third place among exporters of agricultural products to Ukraine after Germany and Poland, and the seventh among importing countries from Ukraine.

"But I want to emphasize that cooperation in agricultural sector - is more than just trade of agricultural goods. We see great potential in the development of projects in the field of agricultural machinery, irrigation systems, greenhouses, seed. In addition, Turkish and Ukrainian businesses are interested in joint projects in third countries "- said Deputy Minister.

According to Olga Trofimtseva, the Governments of Ukraine and Turkey continue to work on the FTA agreement. "Today we are actively working to resolve the main issue - Creation a Free Trade Area between Ukraine and Turkey. We will not talk about any concrete agreements today, because negotiations at the political level are continuing between the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine and the Ministry of Economy of Turkish Republic. But today's forum we will use with my colleague for bilateral working consultations on veterinary, phytosanitary and other important issues in order to facilitate cooperation between companies of the two countries", - Olga Trofimtseva summarized.