President Victor Yushchenko and Director-General of the World Trade Organization Pascal Lamy have signed today the Protocols of Ukraine’s accession for membership in the WTO in Geneva, Switzerland.

“It is a great historical day for Ukraine, the Ukrainian nation, and I would like to congratulate with that the Ukrainian people”, - said V. Yushchenko after signature ceremony. He also expressed gratitude to Pascal Lami in person, to all WTO member states, to the working group which has been working on Ukraine’s application and to the Ukrainian delegation for their work and support.

From his part the Director-General greeting Ukraine on today’s event said that “today a great document was signed which is a result of a hard work”. “We need you, your knowledge and experience”, - he added.

The General Council today paved the way for Ukraine’s membership in the WTO by approving its accession terms. Ukraine will have to ratify the deal by 4 July 2008 and would become a WTO member 30 days after the ratification.

Ukraine applied for WTO membership in 1993, and the Working Party concluded the negotiations on 25 January 2008 under the chairmanship of Chile’s Ambassador Mario Matus. The General Council approved the Working Party report, the market access schedules on goods and services, the General Council Decision and the Protocol of Accession.