On October 27, Ihor Petrashko, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine met with Davide La Cecilia, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Italian Republic to Ukraine. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss issues of deepening trade and economic relations between Ukraine and Italy.

 “We are interested in deepening mutually beneficial trade and economic relations and further developing industry and investment cooperation between our countries,” – Ihor Petrashko said.

So, during the meeting, they discussed the prospects for cooperation in the field of trade, industry, agriculture, IT and innovation.

In addition, the participants discussed interaction within the framework of the Ukrainian-Italian Council for Economic, Industrial and Financial Cooperation and supported the importance of holding the next meeting in December this year.

They also noted the importance of finalizing the work process on updating the intergovernmental agreement on the promotion and mutual protection of investments, which should expand the prospects for the implementation of new investment projects, the cooperation development, public-private partnerships, etc.

Considering the priority of the Italian market and the possibility of a promising partnership, Dnipropetrovsk Investment Agency analyzed the foreign economic relations of the Dnipropetrovsk region with the Italian Republic for the last year.

The total turnover (goods and services) of Dnipropetrovsk region with Italy in 2019 amounted to $421.9 mln, decreasing by 20% compared to 2018. Export of goods from the region amounted to $201,4 mln. At the same time, imports of goods from Italy over the same period amounting to $210,5 mln. The bilateral trade balance of the region for 2019 was negative in the amount of $9.1 mln.

Among the main types of products that are exported from the region in Italy, the largest volume is occupied by:

• iron and steel – $133.7 mln;
• articles of iron or steel – $38.6 mln;
• animal or vegetable fats and oils – $12.9 mln;

In 2019, it was started the export of new goods from Dnipropetrovsk region, such as:

• fertilisers – $6952 thousands;
• oil seeds and oleaginous fruits– $795.9 thousands;
• preparations of vegetables, fruit, nuts or other parts of plants– $15.1 thousands;
• organic chemicals– $10.7 thousands.

Record growth in exports to Italy over the past year was shown by: ceramic products exports increased in 105 times), printed products (in 9 times), railway locomotives, (in 7 times), rubber and articles thereof (in 4 times), as well as toys (in 3 times).

If we talk about product groups imported by businessmen of Dnipropetrovsk region from Italy, then the largest volumes are:

• mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation – $48.9 mln;
• machinery, mechanical appliances – $37.5 mln;
• pharmaceutical products – $33.9 mln;
• preparations of cereals – $9.6 mln (imports increased in 2 times).

In 2019, it was started the import of new goods from Italy to Dnipropetrovsk region, such as:

• other base metals – $40.3 thousands;
• products of animal origin – $40.1 thousands;
• preparations of meat and fish – $34.3 thousands.

The record growth in imports from Italy over the past year occurred in the following categories: salt, Sulphur, earths and stone (imports increased in 62 times), articles of apparel and clothing accessories, not knitted or crocheted (in 37 times), other made-up textile articles (in 19 times), inorganic chemicals (in 8 times), as well as animal or vegetable fats and oils (in 6 times).

 More information about the dynamics of foreign trade relations we invite you to find in the open data module DIAGRAM by the link.