In 2016 the European Union was the most important trading partner for Ukraine, accounting for 37.2% of total exports and 43.7% of total imports (European Commission 2017). Between 2012 and 2016 the EU retained the leading role as Ukraine’s main trade partner, with the share in total trade rising from 34% to 40.6%. In turn, Russia’s share in Ukrainian trade dropped from 22% to 11.6% in 2012–2016. This may also be attributed to the actions undertaken by Russia as a consequence of the Association Agreement concluded in 2014 (Oomes, Appelman, Witteman 2017: 18).
This allows us to infer that Ukraine is becoming more independent from Russia and over the next decade we are likely to observe trade diversion to the West and the emergence of new trade channels.
At the same time, for the European Union Ukraine ranked 27 thin terms of external trade, accounting for 0.9% of extra-EU exports and 0.8% of extra-EU imports (Table 1). It is worth noting that between 2008 and 2016 the share of Ukraine in extra-EU exports declined from 1.9%, whereas the imports remained stable.
Table 1. General statistics on trade between Ukraine and European Union
Year Indicator Value
2016 Share in EU extra-imports 0.8%
2016 Share in EU extra-exports 0.9%
2015–2016 Annual growth rate in imports 2%
2015–2016 Annual growth rate in exports 17.5%
2016 Share of imports from the EU (in total imports of Ukraine) 43.7%
2016 Share of exports from Ukraine to the EU
(in total exports of Ukraine) 37.2%
Source: European Commission (2017), European Union, Trade in goods with Ukraine, Brussels. http://
trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2006/september/tradoc_113459.pdf [accessed on: 10.06.2017].
According to the data presented by the European Commission (2017), exports to Ukraine were dominated by 3 sections (SITC nomenclature):
Machinery and transport equipment (36.4%), Chemicals and related prod., n.e.s. (20.9%) and Manufactured goods classifi ed chiefl y by material (14.9%).
These 3 sections accounted for over 72% of EU exports to Ukraine. In 2016 EU imported from Ukraine: Manufactured goods classifi ed chiefl y by material (27.8%), Food and live animals (17.9%), Crude materials, inedible, except fuels (17.2%), which accounted for 62.9% of total imports from
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Ukraine (Table 2). According to Table 2, it is important to underline that the trade between the EU and Ukraine has more extra-industry character, however there is a potential for overlapping the streams of trade in the Manufactured goods classifi ed chiefl y by material product group. Since the data presented by the European Commission are highly aggregated, it is impossible to conduct a detailed analysis of the share of intra-industry trade in the total trade between partners.
Table 2. Exports and imports between the EU and Ukraine in 2016 by SITC sections
Exports to Ukraine Imports from Ukraine
Machinery and transport equipment 36.4 Manufactured goods classifi ed
chiefl y by material 27.8
Chemicals and related prod., n.e.s. 20.9 Food and live animals 17.9 Manufactured goods classifi ed
chiefl y by material 14.9 Crude materials, inedible, except
fuels 17.2
Source: European Commission (2017), European Union, Trade in goods with Ukraine, Brussels. http://
trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2006/september/tradoc_113459.pdf [accessed on: 10.06.2017].
Table 3 presents the value of imports and exports of the EU to Ukraine broken down into product groups according to SITC nomenclature.
A more detailed analysis of the composition of the trade between the EU and Ukraine reveals interesting characteristics. Between 2013 and 2016 agricultural products, dominated by food products (87%), constituted over a third of EU imports from Ukraine. Another product group, which accounted for 20% of imports in 2016, was iron and steel. Those two groups stood for over 50% of EU imports from Ukraine in 2016. A similar situation was noted between 2013 and 2016. The imports are largely dominated by raw materials (Misala 2013: 97).
In terms of exports to Ukraine, in 2016 the highest share in total exports was noted by Machinery and transport equipment, which accounted for 36%
(Table 3). This category was dominated by Other machinery, i.e. excluding transport equipment. Another signifi cant group of products were Chemicals (21% of exports). In terms of intensity of product factors, exports to Ukraine are dominated by capital-intensive and technology-intensive products, which are easy to imitate. The future might bring about the process of spill-over in Ukraine. With rising exports, local businesses will have the opportunity to utilize the knowledge and technology contained in the products. In the long term the process of dynamic Ukrainian imports from the EU will result in the acceleration of the catching-up process in economic terms. According to the
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Part III: EU Trade & Investment Policy: Engine for Growth and Job Creation?…“Flying geese paradigm” presented by Akamatsu, the developing countries use imports to complement their defi ciencies in terms of capital, modern technology and managerial skills. Over time, however, with learning from the leaders, they become their equal partners and rivals on the international scene (Weresa 2007: 344–345).
Table 3. Composition of EU and Ukraine trade in selected years (Mio €) SITC Rev. 3
Product Groups
2013 2014 2015 2016 2013 2014 2015 2016
Imports Exports
Total 13,882 13,731 12,833 13,091 23,899 16,986 14,039 16,501 Primary products 6,950 6,809 6,334 6,301 5,128 3,966 3,028 2,966 Agricultural products
(Food (incl. Fish) & Raw
Materials): 4,180 4,359 4,517 4,536 2,406 1,914 1,518 1,753
Food 3,712 3,825 3,941 3,975 2,052 1,639 1,270 1,475
Raw materials 468 535 576 561 354 275 248 278
Fuels and mining prod. 2,769 2,449 1,817 1,764 2,722 2,052 1,510 1,213 Ores and other minerals 1,586 1,374 1,187 1,158 63 53 68 49
Fuels 1,118 1,005 519 544 2,487 1,870 1,304 1,030
of which Petroleum
and petroleum prod. 392 265 45 46 2,140 1,549 1,026 744
Non-ferrous metals 65 71 111 62 172 129 138 133
Manufactures 6,360 6,371 5,956 6,321 18,291 12,739 10,633 13,274
Iron and steel 3,352 3,161 2,696 2,696 379 288 242 265
Chemicals 555 551 507 396 4,589 3,676 3,098 3,449
of which Pharmaceuticals 23 20 18 18 1,785 1,402 953 1,109 Other semi-manufactures 453 561 633 797 2,409 1,746 1,358 1,575 Machinery and transport
equipment 1,378 1,417 1,418 1,584 8,137 4,923 4,246 5,998 Offi ce and telecomm.
equipment 187 225 198 223 1,176 705 554 600
Transport equipment 180 106 98 84 2,441 1,037 980 1,600
of which Automotive
products 13 14 15 14 2,031 837 742 1,229
Other machinery 1,012 1,085 1,123 1,278 4,512 3,177 2,706 3,797
Textiles 46 54 61 78 464 436 430 479
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SITC Rev. 3 Product Groups
2013 2014 2015 2016 2013 2014 2015 2016
Imports Exports
Clothing 312 310 288 326 632 445 329 364
Other manufactures 264 318 353 444 1,680 1,224 961 1,143
of which Scientifi c and
controlling instruments 17 24 24 15 304 220 198 256
Other products 37 35 33 54 173 90 88 168
Other 535 516 511 415 307 191 259 94
Source: European Commission (2017), European Union, Trade in goods with Ukraine, Brussels. http://
trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2006/september/tradoc_113459.pdf [accessed on: 10.06.2017].