The liberalization of freight transportation (“transport visa-free”) between Ukraine and the European Union has been automatically extended until the end of 2025. The corresponding decision was approved taking into account the effectiveness of the Agreement between the parties, the positive impact on the economies of Ukraine and the EU, as well as effective monitoring of its implementation.
“Road transport between Ukraine and the EU today is of crucial importance for the economic stability of our state, because it is by road that we export value-added goods and import necessary cargo. Most importantly, the Agreement has a positive impact on both sides. Thanks to the “transport visa-free regime”, exports by road to the European Union have increased by 42%, and imports by road to Ukraine by 37%. I thank our European partners for their productive work and I thank domestic carriers for supporting the economic sustainability of the state,” emphasized the Deputy Prime Minister for the Reconstruction of Ukraine - Minister of Community and Territorial Development Oleksiy Kuleba.
We will remind, for the first time the “transport visa-free regime” was agreed in June 2022. Traditionally, the Agreement is valid for one year. In June 2024, it was extended for the third time for another year – until June 2025. Then, one of the conditions of the updated Agreement was an automatic prolongation until the end of 2025 in the absence of a negative impact on the parties to the Agreement and the absence of violations.
Immediately after the extension of the Agreement last year, the Ministry of Development and Trade team, coordinated by the relevant Deputy Minister Serhiy Derkach, actively worked to ensure that the liberalization of transportation was automatically extended. In particular, this includes participation in the joint Working Group on analyzing the effectiveness of the Agreement, preparing the necessary analytics, and working with Ukrainian carriers on compliance with the rules of “transport visa-free travel”.
The liberalization of cargo transportation between Ukraine and the EU was introduced to support the Ukrainian economy in response to the Russian invasion. The agreement facilitates Ukraine's access to world markets, ensures stable transit of goods through the EU countries and strengthens trade ties between Ukraine and the EU.