Put forward in November last year, the UK–Ukraine Digital Trade Agreement (DTA) has now been signed and will, Business and Trade Secretary, Kemi Badenoch, said, greatly enhance the UK–Ukraine trade and investment relationship.
The DTA was the focus of an event where the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) hosted a number of Ukrainian ministers, as well as 200 UK and international businesses and officials, at Mansion House to lay the foundation for closer future co-operation.
The Road to Ukraine Recovery Conference, geared towards supporting Ukraine’s National Recovery Plan and mobilising UK businesses to engage in future Ukraine reconstruction projects, opened with a welcome from the Business and Trade Secretary.
“This event, and our mobilisation of UK industry, is a key stepping stone on our route to the Ukraine Recovery Conference that will be hosted in London in June,” she said.
Ukraine will have guaranteed access to the financial services crucial for reconstruction efforts through the DTA’s facilitation of cross-border data flows. Ukrainian businesses will also be able to trade more efficiently and cheaply with the UK through electronic transactions, e-signatures and e-contracts.
In the margins of the conference, the UK confirmed its intention to extend the removal of tariffs on Ukrainian products until March 2024. This follows the decision in May 2022 to cut tariffs on all goods from Ukraine to zero and will, Ms Badenoch said, provide much needed support to Ukrainian businesses given the impact of the war on their ability to export goods.
Minister of Economy for Ukraine, Yuliia Svyrydenko, said: “This DTA illustrates that Ukrainian IT companies operating in Ukraine are in demand around the world despite all the challenges of war. The Agreement has enshrined core freedoms for trade in digital goods and services. Ukraine believes that an open and free framework for the digital economy is the best investment in future oriented development.”
