A new chapter in
Canada-Ukraine ties
Canadian Ambassador Roman Waschuk on free trade, military training and police reform Summer 2016 will surely go down as one of the busiest periods in the history of the Canadian diplomatic mission to Ukraine. May and June were occupied by preparations for a landmark Canada-Ukraine Business Forum in Toronto, while early July saw the signing of a free trade agreement between the two countries during Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s headline-grabbing visit to Kyiv and Lviv. This recent flurry of activity marks the opening of a new chapter in what has long been a close bilateral relationship. Ties between the two nations are rooted in Canada’s millionplus Ukrainian diaspora and date back to December 1991, when Canada became the first Western country to recognise Ukrainian independence.
FTA gateway to EU and NAFTA markets
Business Ukraine magazine caught up with Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine Roman Waschuk in mid-July as the dust was still settling on the Trudeau visit. Ambassador Waschuk was understandably encouraged by the success of the visit and the signing of the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), but he was also keen to emphasize the work that now lies ahead in order to build on this momentum. Trade between the two countries is currently hovering at extremely modest levels – Ukrainian exports to Canada in 2015 totalled just USD 60 million – but Ambassador Waschuk sees the FTA as a potentially transformational trade platform with broad implications for both countries’ bottom lines. “This is about much more than widgets going from country A to country B”, he says. Instead, Waschuk hopes the FTA will invigorate triangular trade, with cooperation between Ukrainian and Canadian companies serving as a gateway to market access throughout North America and the European Union. 8
About the interviewee: Roman Waschuk is the Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine. He took up his post in Kyiv in October 2014 Direct bilateral trade is also expected to grow from present lows. There was an unmistakable feel-good factor surrounding the Trudeau visit that cannot be solely attributed
to the rock star appeal of the charismatic Canadian PM. The first cooperation agreements of the new free trade era have already been signed, with a memorandum of understandwww.bunews.com.ua