The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, is preparing to ratify an agreement on the creation of a free trade area (FTA) with the CIS countries, Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn said at a meeting of the parliament's conciliatory council on Monday.

"We are currently considering the question of the simultaneous consideration of the FTA agreement with the CIS countries, with all parties that signed this agreement, in order to prevent the situation when we, in due time, ratified an agreement, but it did not start working," Lytvyn said.

Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development and Trade Andriy Kliuyev, in turn, said that the government would ensure the timely submission of a draft agreement for ratification by parliament.

Kliuyev said that the agreement must be ratified as quickly as possible.

In addition, he said that according to the conclusions the European Commission, "the FTA agreement with the CIS countries is not contrary to the free trade area with the EU."

Earlier, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said that the agreement on the free trade area in the CIS was not ideal, but "exclusively positive" for Ukraine. Its ratification, he believes, will help solve the "gas issue" with Russia.

According to the calculations of the government commissioner for cooperation with the Russian Federation, the CIS member countries, the Eurasian Economic Community and other regional associations, Valeriy Muntiyan, a free trade area with the CIS countries will give Ukraine the GDP growth of 2.5%, or UAH 37.5 billion, in 2012 prices.

Ukrinform