Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Ukraine and Azerbaijan should develop cooperation on joint production in chemical industry, pharmaceutics, shipbuilding, aircraft and machine building, believes Stepan Kubiv, Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development and Trade.

Kubiv, in an exclusive interview with Trend, noted that Azerbaijan is a strategically important partner of Ukraine and this was confirmed by statements and meetings of Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman with the Azerbaijani delegation led by Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev in Kyiv on March 13-14.

"Activation of cooperation between our countries is very timely, because Ukraine and Azerbaijan haven’t yet fully realized the potential of cooperation. Over the past several years, the volume of mutual trade declined and in 2016 it didn’t exceed even $300 million, but now we are actively working to restore and expand the range of trade and economic cooperation," noted Kubiv.

During the meeting with the Azerbaijani delegation, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman positively assessed Mustafayev’s proposal to establish Azerbaijan’s trade house in Kyiv, he said, adding, "This should strengthen trade cooperation between our countries".

Kubiv said that along with the above mentioned areas Ukraine intends to expand cooperation in the agro-industrial sector and on food supplies to Azerbaijan.

"Of course, we are also interested in further deliveries of Azerbaijani oil to Ukrainian refineries and to European countries through our territory," added the first deputy PM.

Taking into account the strengthening competition in world markets, it is important for the two countries to establish cooperation, search for ways to create conditions that will increase their own and joint competitive opportunities in foreign markets, he said.

"Global trends dictate the need to use high-tech production, which will allow creating products with high added value. Global production chains, often involving several countries simultaneously, are important," noted Kubiv.

Therefore, it is needed for Ukraine and Azerbaijan to establish cooperation in several directions: from trade and economic to scientific and technical sphere by improving and expanding the foundation of cooperation, he added.

"We plan to hold a joint forum in Baku," said Kubiv, adding that Kyiv will also soon host the 12th meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation.

The first deputy PM further said that Ukraine’s UkrTransNafta OJSC plans to increase the volumes of Azeri Light oil supplies to the Kremenchug refinery to 1.9 million tons per year in the future.

UkrTransNafta manages oil transportation operations through the Ukrainian pipeline network.

Since March 10, 2017, UkrTransNafta has resumed the operation of a section of the pipeline from Odessa to Kremenchuk cities and started transportation of Azeri Light oil to the Kremenchug refinery. The agreement signed at the end of last year implies the transportation of at least 1.3 million tons of Azeri Light oil to the Kremenchug refinery in 2017.

"The transportation of Azerbaijani oil allows UkrTransNafta to resume the operation of a section of the pipeline from Odessa to Kremenchuk cities and to increase the volume of oil pumped to Ukrainian refineries, as well as the volume of internal oil transportation throughout Ukraine," Kubiv said.

Kremenchug refinery processes Azeri Light oil since December 2016, however earlier the oil was delivered to the refinery by rail.

Kubiv also touched upon investments, saying that Azerbaijan invested more than $221 million in the Ukrainian economy in 2016.

The largest volume of Azerbaijan's investments – about 88 percent – was directed at the wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, while five percent of funds were invested in construction and four percent – in industry, according to him.

“In general, improving the business climate in Ukraine is a key priority for the government of Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman,” Kubiv said.

“We are working to reduce regulatory pressure on business and create a system of effective regulation, and also actively cooperate with the Parliament to ensure the adoption of important bills that will improve the business environment in Ukraine.”

He noted that active work is underway in Ukraine to combat corruption, and also tax, customs and judicial reforms are being implemented in the country.

“Thanks to the taken measures, Ukraine's GDP grew by 2.2 percent in 2016, after falling by 43 percent in 2015. International financial institutions’ decisions to provide Ukraine with significant financial resources are also an important international signal,” he said.

“In particular, it is worth mentioning that the EU provided macro-financial assistance in the amount of 600 million euros,” Kubiv said, adding that this testifies the correctness of the chosen course of reforms in Ukraine.