Ukraine’s total export of goods rose 24.2% y/y in the first half of 2017  to $20.7bn, the ministry said. Ukraine’s top five trade partners in terms of export of goods were: the European Union countries (39.8%), the Russian Federation (9.4%), Turkey (6.1%), India (5.5%), Egypt (5.3%), according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

The main exported goods were agriculture products and food (42% of the total exports), metal products (23%), machine building products (11.4%), and mineral products (9.6%).

Trade with the EU rose fast, up by 26.1%, or by $1.7bn, in January-June to $8.2bn, the economy ministry said, cited by Tass.

Despite the improving trade with the EU, Russia still plays an extremely important role in Ukraine’s trade: the trade turnover with Russia was just under $5bn for the same period, with both exports and imports rising at the about the same pace as those with the EU.

After a heavy decline, exports to Russia are rising again, which were up by 26.4% in the first half of this year to $1.93bn. However, this increase off a very low base and prior to the current conflict Russia made up about half of Ukraine’s trade with volumes in the tens of billions. Imports from Russia were up by even more, by 41.5% to $2.99bn.

Ukraine’s visible trade of balance with Russia was negative over the first half of this year, the ministry says, at $1.054bn. However, the trade balance in services with Russia was positive in the first half of the year: the export of services to Russia increased 11.7% in the period to $1.645bn, while service imports grew 17.6% to $208mn.