Ukraine, EU To Open Free Trade Zone In 2006 - Yushchenko.

President Viktor Yushchenko said that Ukraine would begin talks with the European Union about opening a free trade zone in 2006. The President said he expects to see the trade zone open by the end of 1Q06. The President added that Ukraine had a strategic plan for European integration by which it would first receive market economy status, join the WTO and then open a free trade zone with the EU. Yushchenko said he still believed it was possible for Ukraine to join the WTO in December. Concorde Capital: Despite a seemingly damning announcement by the head of the World Trade Organization, which said Ukraine had no chance to join the organization before the spring of 2006, the President refuses to accept defeat. The government has a Herculean task ahead of it this autumn if it is to complete the President’s strategic plan for European integration by 1Q06. However, following his meeting with British PM and current holder of the EU Presidency Tony Blair, this week Yushchenko said he was confident it was possible to achieve market economy status and enter the WTO before the Ukraine-EU summit in Kyiv this December. From our vantage point it looks like Ukraine’s best bet is to focus on being granted market economy status by the end of the year.