Ukraine’s exports to the European Union (EU) countries increased and to the Russia-led Customs Union (CU) states went down in the first eight months of 2014, said Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Elena Zerkal on Tuesday. “Exports to the EU increased by around $1.3 billion or more than 15 percent, compared with the same period of last year,” NewEurope quoted Zerkal as saying. She attributed the increase of exports to trade preference granted by the EU to Ukraine earlier this year. In the same period, Zerkal said, Ukraine’s exports to the CU countries grouping Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan fell 30 percent year-on-year during January-August.