On 17 November 2020, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine hosted negotiations between Uzbek Republican Commodity Exchange (UzEX) delegation and Ukrainian agricultural producers of sugar, sunflower oil, flour, grain, meat and other goods to discuss supply to the Republic of Uzbekistan. Deputy Foreign Minister (CDTO) Dmytro Senik took part in the meeting organized within the Council of Exporters and Investors under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The negotiations were held in accordance with social distance and other quarantine requirements. Among the participants were representatives of Ukrainian business associations (Ukrsugar, Ukrainian Grain Association,Union Millers of Ukraine) and separate companies. Several companies joined online. During the meeting, Ukrainian exporters,in particular representatives of Chumak, Premier FOOD, PE Pan Indyk and others, presented their opportunities to enter the Uzbek market.
"In the context of COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has significantly intensified its economic efforts to support Ukrainian business. Even though economy has always been on our agenda, today the ministry is reviewing its work in the field of economic diplomacy, including regulatory framework, processes and approaches. These are the priorities set by the President of Ukraine and formulated by Minister Dmytro Kuleba in the form of clear instructions for our foreign diplomatic missions’’, Dmytro Senik stressed. The participants of the meeting discussed their prospects of cooperation and urgent issues in trade and economic relations, particularly, logistics. According to Ukrainian business representatives, if Uzbekistan reduce costs within the logistics chain, supplies of Ukrainian products will increase significantly. "Trade and economic cooperation is the most important element in Ukrainian-Uzbek relations. I want to emphasize that Ukraine considers Uzbekistan one of the economic leaders in the Central Asian region with a market of 34 million. We are interested in holding similar meetings with representatives of chemical industry, metallurgy, manufacturers of construction materials and other industries in the future’’, said the diplomat.
The Uzbek delegation will visit several Ukrainian enterprises and hold bilateral meetings with Ukrainian business representatives during the visit to Ukraine.
After 8 months of 2020, the volume of trade in goods between Ukraine and Uzbekistan amounted to $249 million and increased by 28.2% if compared to 8 months of 2019. At the same time, exports of goods from Ukraine to Uzbekistan amounted to $172.2 million and increased by 27%. Imports of Uzbek goods to Ukraine amounted to $76.7 million and increased by 1.2%. The positive balance for Ukraine during this period amounted to $95.4 million.
The Council of Exporters and Investors under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is a platform where the Ministry accumulates information on investment and trade opportunities from around the world, as well as facilitates business contacts between Ukrainian exporters and importers abroad.The Council introduced a mechanism for processing domestic companies requests concerning promotion of their production and search for partners in the foreign markets using the possibilities of economic departments of foreign diplomatic missions.