Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is due to visit Ukraine on 15 July, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga. He said the two sides would continue to develop their strategic partnership. The day before, the Verkhovna Rada ratified the free trade agreement between Ukraine and Turkey.
Briefly about the main points
- Hakan Fidan is due to arrive in Ukraine on 15 July.
- The visit was publicly announced by Minister Andriy Sibiga.
- The Rada has ratified the free trade agreement with Turkey.
- 236 MPs voted in favour of ratifying the document.
- The agreement still needs to go through the necessary procedures before it can come into force.
Only the Ukrainian minister announced the visit
Andriy Sibiga announced an upcoming meeting with Hakan Fidan in a social media post X. He described the development of the strategic partnership between the two countries as the aim of his visit and congratulated his Turkish counterpart on the ratification of the trade agreement.
The statements issued by the Turkish authorities available at the time of verification did not contain a specific announcement regarding Fidan’s trip to Kyiv. The itinerary of the visit, the composition of the delegation, the list of people he is due to meet, and the documents that may be discussed or signed have also not been made public.
Ratification in Ukraine does not automatically trigger the benefits
On 14 July, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law ratifying the agreement between the governments of Ukraine and the Republic of Turkey. According to the parliamentary press service, the law is intended to complete the domestic procedures required for the agreement to enter into force on the Ukrainian side.
At the same time, ratification by parliament does not mean that the free trade area has already come into force. The Turkish Ministry of Trade classifies the agreement with Ukraine as one of the documents currently undergoing ratification, and notes that it will enter into force once both parties have completed their internal procedures.
The date on which the tariff preferences will actually come into effect has therefore not yet been confirmed. For businesses, the key factors remain the completion of the procedure in Turkey and the agreement’s official entry into force.
What provisions does the trade agreement contain?
The agreement was signed in Kyiv on 3 February 2022. It provides for the phased liberalisation of trade in goods, including the elimination or reduction of import duties in accordance with the tariff schedules set out in the annexes.
The Ukrainian side’s official description also covers trade in services, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers, safeguard and anti-dumping mechanisms, intellectual property, investment, e-commerce, competition and dispute settlement.
The security context of the negotiations
On the eve of the announced trip, Fidan was representing the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Paris summit «a »coalition of the willing’ regarding Ukraine. The Turkish minister had previously stated that Ankara was prepared to help resolve the Russian-Ukrainian war and to act as a mediator.
The fact that the ratification of the agreement coincides with the visit suggests that its economic implementation may be among the topics for discussion. At the same time, the official agenda has not been made public, so there is no confirmation that the parties will be discussing specific trade, peace or security agreements.
