President of the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, MP Anatoliy Kinakh, has said that EU integration is more important for Ukraine than its accession to the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

He told this to reporters in the town of Ichnia in Chernihiv region on Saturday, an UKRINFORM correspondent said.

"Today our strategic priority is to modernize the economy, increase its competitiveness and attract investment. Russia's share in foreign direct investment in Ukraine is 7%, and the EU's share is 80%. About 70% of Russian imports account for oil and natural gas, and in the structure of imports from the EU almost 40% are advanced technologies, equipment and machinery. So we are telling our fellow Russians that we will work with the Customs Union, we have a huge interest there, this is the market for our products, but we will strengthen the EU integration vector as an incentive for the modernization of our country and the formation of modern European standards, the economy and people's lives," he said.

He said that Ukraine should create equal relations with partners from Russia and from the European Union and that there should be no political or economic pressure.

"It is very important for Ukraine to ensure that this position could be properly understood in the world," the politician said.

He said that Ukraine is an export-oriented state and that 50% of its economy is formed by exporters. But in order to strengthen their positions in world markets, it is essential to modernize their enterprises.

"Without modernization, without deep structural changes, we will simply have no future," Kinakh said.

Ukrinform