You're reading: Open Skies issue should be settled via bilateral agreements – infrastructure minister

Infrastructure Minister of Ukraine Andriy Pyvovarsky has ordered the State Aviation Service of Ukraine to improve its work on the liberalization of air transportation between Ukraine and other countries.

“Today I set a task for the State Aviation Service to open skies between Ukraine and other states at the level of bilateral agreements. We’re doing all possible that the Agreement on Common Aviation Area between Ukraine and the European Union was signed as soon as possible. However, despite our pressure, I understand that the dispute around Gibraltar is a problem does not depend on us to be resolved,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

The minister said that at present around 70 bilateral agreements on air communication between Ukraine and other countries are in effect. Eleven of them do not contain any restrictions on the number of carriers, flights and destinations. The rest of the agreements contain restrictions.

“The State Aviation Service would propose that the countries lift their restrictions. I ask the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine, [Foreign Minister] Pavlo Klimkin to join the process. We would require support of Ukrainian ambassadors abroad. The task is to develop competition. This would happen jointly with the liberalization of the market as much as possible,” he said.