Baku, March 16, AZERTAC

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has held a meeting with the delegation of Azerbaijan led by Minister of Economy Shahin Mustafayev.

The sides voiced their readiness to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in the trade and economic sphere.

The meeting covered issues of cooperation in shipbuilding, aircraft construction, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.

The head of the Ukrainian state positively assessed the dynamics of relations between the two countries, which became possible thanks to the intensification of contacts between the heads of the two states.

Poroshenko called holding the 12th meeting of the Ukrainian-Azerbaijani intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation in Kiev in 2017 very important.

Mustafayev also met with the first prime minister, minister of economic development and trade Stepan Kubiv, minister of infrastructure Volodymyr Omelyan, who stated that the official Kiev is interested in expanding the mutual cooperation in all fields.

There are examples of successful work of Azerbaijani companies in Ukraine. This year companies from Azerbaijan can participate in the implementation of projects that will be conducted with the funds of international financial organizations and in the future in the implementation of projects to be financed from the state budget of Ukraine.

Minister of infrastructure Volodymyr Omelyan stressed that the development of transit through Ukraine in the direction of Europe-Asia is a priority.

"Azerbaijan is a key link in this line. We must establish our joint work so that the route to be convenient, reliable and cost competitive transportation," Omelyan added.

The Ukrainian minister also called on Azerbaijan to take part in the development of the port infrastructure in Ukraine.

Earlier within the framework of the visit Mustafayev met with Ukrainian Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Kutovyi, where he said that Azerbaijan considers it promising to partake in agriculture investment projects in Ukraine.

During the meeting with Prime Minister of Ukraine Vladimir Groysman, the parties agreed to expand interstate cooperation in various fields. Groysman and Mustafayev highlighted the opening of the Trade House in Kiev as one of the most promising areas of Ukrainian-Azerbaijani cooperation. That will stimulate trade between the two countries and increase the flow of Azerbaijani investments to Ukraine.

Azerbaijan is one of the main trade partners of Ukraine among the CIS countries. Trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $334.18 million in 2016, according to Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee.