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Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, ratified a free trade agreement with Türkiye on Tuesday, over four years after the deal was originally signed, as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan prepared to visit Kyiv this week.
A total of 236 lawmakers voted in favor of the ratification law, exceeding the required minimum of 226 votes, according to Interfax-Ukraine.
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was originally signed in Kyiv on Feb. 3, 2022, by then-Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and then-Turkish Trade Minister Mehmet Mus, following 12 rounds of negotiations and expert consultations conducted between 2011 and 2022.
Türkiye's parliament ratified the agreement in early August 2024, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan approved the agreement and its annexes on Aug. 1 of that year, according to Ukrinform.
The agreement takes effect following ratification by both parliaments and the exchange of ratification instruments.
Under the agreement, Türkiye will immediately eliminate import duties on approximately 93.4% of industrial goods and 7.6% of agricultural products from Ukraine, according to Ukrinform.
After transitional periods of three to seven years, Ankara will remove duties on an additional 1.5% of industrial goods and 28.5% of agricultural products.
Ukraine, for its part, will immediately eliminate import duties on about 56% of industrial goods and 11.5% of agricultural products from Türkiye.
After transitional periods of two to five years for industrial goods and two to ten years for agricultural products, Kyiv will remove tariffs on an additional 43.2% of industrial goods and 53.7% of agricultural products.
Ukraine's Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture Oleksiy Sobolev told the Verkhovna Rada that Ukrainian exports to Türkiye grew 23% last year to $2.7 billion.
He said Türkiye ranked second among destinations for Ukrainian exports and third in overall trade turnover in 2025, with mutual trade reaching $7.9 billion.
"This confirms that the economic partnership between our countries is developing dynamically, and its potential is significant," Sobolev said, adding that the agreement would help unlock that potential further.
He said the deal provides full liberalization for 84% of Ukrainian product groups and tariff quotas for another 6%, within which a zero or reduced duty rate applies.
Addressing criticism of the agreement, Sobolev said the government was working on additional support for Ukrainian businesses, including the light industry sector, covering equipment imports, parcel taxation, and anti-smuggling efforts, alongside existing "Made in Ukraine" programs.
Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Ukraine's Trade Representative Taras Kachka said the agreement gives Ukrainian businesses time to establish themselves in the Turkish market ahead of eventual EU membership.
"From now on, Ukrainian business gets time and opportunities to master one of the largest markets in the region, and Ukraine will approach EU membership already with export experience, established partnerships, and logistics," Kachka said.
Kachka said the agreement's key value lies in providing a tariff incentive for Ukraine's processing industry, noting that 77% of current Ukrainian exports to Türkiye consist of unprocessed grain and sunflower oil that Türkiye processes domestically.
"The agreement removes barriers precisely for processed products: food products, feed concentrates, oilseed products of deeper processing. Products manufactured in Ukraine enter the Turkish market without duties. This is a significant argument to invest in processing in Ukraine," he said.
Kachka added that the deal also allows Ukrainian manufacturers to use Turkish materials and components while retaining preferential country-of-origin status for exports to the EU, under the updated Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha wrote on X that the ratification was "a major milestone in our bilateral relations," thanking lawmakers for supporting the decision.
"This agreement is the result of many years of dedicated and sometimes challenging work, and today's vote turns our shared efforts into a tangible achievement," Sybiha wrote, congratulating Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and saying he looked forward to welcoming Fidan in Ukraine "tomorrow" as the two countries continue advancing their strategic partnership.
Ukraine's Embassy in Türkiye also marked the ratification on X, saying it would help further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries.
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