First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko discussed issues of trade and economic cooperation and military partnership with Prime Minister of Romania Marcel Ciolacu. The meeting took place in Bucharest on the sidelines of the Three Seas Initiative Summit. The main topic of the talks was grain trade between Ukraine and the EU.

“We had fruitful talks with the Prime Minister of Romania – the agenda included many sensitive, relevant and important issues related to our defence capabilities, mutual trade and economic cooperation. The most pressing issue for Ukraine at the moment is grain trade. Free trade in grain after 15 September will be beneficial to all countries and will not be detrimental to the region. We want to ensure maximum efficiency and transparency that will suit all countries. We are now working in all areas – discussing logistics, infrastructure, licensing and phytosanitary issues, including exports to third countries. We need to ensure free trade and increase grain exports from Ukraine. In the coming days we need to find common solutions to all sensitive issues,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

Yuliia Svyrydenko thanked the Romanian side for the joint work, which will lead to a doubling (up to 4 million tonnes) of the capacity for transit of Ukrainian agricultural products through Romania in the future. This will ensure global food security.

Later, Yuliia Svyrydenko met with Romanian Minister of Economy Ștefan-Radu Oprea. One of the main topics of discussion was the possibility for Romania’s EximBank to provide guarantees or insurance for Romanian companies working with Ukrainian partners.

The meeting also touched on mutual trade issues. In August this year, Romania ranked first among EU countries in terms of imports from Ukraine, reaching USD 406 million. The parties discussed joint steps to be taken by the countries in order to maintain the same high level of trade.

For his part, the Romanian Minister of Economy noted that Ukraine’s experience in overcoming energy crises was very valuable for them.