State Duma's Speaker not satisfied with Russian-Ukrainian trade volume

Russia and Ukraine cannot be satisfied with the total volume of bilateral trade and economic relations, said speaker of the State Duma, the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, Gennady Seleznev on Tuesday, when speaking at the International Relations Institute of the Kiev National University. In 2001, the Russian-Ukrainian trade volume exceeded $9 billion, yet in the 9 months of the current year it has only amounted to $6.6 billion, Seleznev recalled.

The reason for this slump is "the unregulated issues in tax and customs tariff policies", the speaker believes. Moreover, Russia and Ukraine "do not fully use their economic potential, as well as the potential of their neighbouring countries," he pointed out.

"The two countries should give higher priority to active participation in European integration processes," according to Seleznev.

Ukraine's admission to the Eurasian Economic Community, the EurAsEC, is in line with both countries' interests, the speaker believes. "Ukraine's full membership in the EurAsEC will allow our countries to solve the issues related to introduction of a free-trade zone and regulation of tax and customs tariff policies between Ukraine and Russia more efficiently," he explained.