Interfax-Ukraine quoted Mr Valeriy Muntiyan the government envoy for cooperation with Russia, the CIS, EurAsEC and other regional associations said Ukraine hopes to increase quotas for the duty free supplies of pipes to the Customs Union member countries to 320,000 tonnes in 2013.

He said that "The Ukrainian side will continue to negotiate and we will be doing our best to make this volume grow, not decline which means that our figure is to be around 320,000 tonnes per year."

Mr Muntiyan said that Russia on August 13, 2012 signed amendments to an agreement on pipe supplies from Ukraine to the Customs Union countries which allow 150,000 tonnes of Ukrainian steel pipes to be supplied on the duty free basis in the second half of 2012.

He said that "As for stainless steel, we took into account historical experience for the past seven not three years and thus our figure is 5,740 tonnes which satisfies producers."

Source - Interfax Ukraine

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