UK and Ukraine make AI deal to help post-war rebuild

The UK and Ukraine have signed one of the world’s first digital-only trade deals to benefit both countries with physical trade is disrupted by the Russian invasion.

Businesses in the allied countries are expected to be boosted when the UK-Ukraine Digital Trade Agreement (DTA) comes into force.

Ukraine was one of the largest exporters of IT services globally, with areas such as outsourcing, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI) and mobile applications in rapid development before the war.

Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the deal aims to modernise trading relationships and encourage “greater digitalisation of the economy”.

Mr Reynolds said: “We’re modernising our trade relationship with Ukraine with one of the world’s first digital-only trade agreements.

“Greater digitalisation of the economy is an important step in supporting Ukraine’s economy and their fight for independence. This Government will continue to lead the way in our unwavering support for Ukraine and its people.”

The deal is part of the UK’s plan to aid Ukraine’s post-conflict transition to a digital economy, with over half of our services exports to Ukraine already digitally delivered.

Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister and minister of economy Yulia Svyrydenko said: “The support of Ukraine from the United Kingdom is unprecedented. We have felt it from the very first days of the full-scale war. The digital trade agreement between our countries is another manifestation of solidarity and support.

“Implementing this agreement will deepen Ukraine’s participation in global supply chains, foster the development of small and medium-sized businesses, maintain free access for Ukrainian IT companies to the UK digital markets, and provide crucial support to our economy during the war and in the post-war reconstruction period.”

The deal comes as war in the country rages on. A Russian guided bomb attack killed two people and injured 10 more including children in a village in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.

Governor Oleh Synehubov said Russian forces hit the village of Cherkaska Lozova with guided bombs, damaging a residential building.

“Two women died,” he said. “One was pulled from the rubble, the other died in an ambulance.”He added that two children were among the injured.

Towns and villages in the northeastern Kharkiv region on the border with Russia have been frequently shelled and bombed by Moscow’s forces during the 30 months of the war.

A similar Russian attack on the city of Kharkiv, the regional centre, killed seven people on Friday, local authorities said.