European Commissioner Hahn: EU will not refund Ukraine loss of Russian market after FTA introduction

"Of course, we have been and are still against any actions that impede trade, but we have issued a lot of money to Ukrainian businesses so that they could prepare for new export opportunities and new market conditions," he said in an interview. "Let's frankly say that since that time we agreed on a FTA it was not a secret that after its introduction Russia could respond whether we like it or not and there was enough time to prepare for this," the commissioner said. Hahn also noted that the implementation of the Association Agreement will be a serious challenge for Ukraine. Speaking at an investment conference in Lviv on Thursday, he said Ukraine still needs to do a lot of work to receive a visa-free regime with the European Union; he added that he believes it will ultimately happen.