The number of Schengen visas issued to the citizens of Ukraine in recent years has been growing, and the number of refusals decreasing, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said.
"The analysis conducted on the grounds of recent data provided by diplomatic agencies of EU member states, shows the growth in the number of Schengen visas issued to Ukrainians in 2011 and the fall in the percentage of visa refusals compared with the previous period," the director of consular department of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Andriy Olefirov, said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
He noted that the official statistics for the previous year will be issued to Ukraine during the 7th meeting of the joint committee of experts on the implementation of the visa facilitation agreement between Ukraine and the EU, which is scheduled for May 2012.
As for the previous years, Olefirov said that the number of visa refusals decreased from 5% in 2009 to 4% in 2010. In his words, the number of visa refusals by individual EU member states decreased considerably. According to the Foreign Ministry, Spain, for instance, issued 14.7% of refusals in 2009, and in 2010 their number decreased to 2%, France reduced the number of visa refusals from 10% to 6%, Greece from 10% to 3%.
"In 2010 the total number of issued visas increased by 70,000 compared with the previous year and reached 1.07 million. The number of multiple-entry visas exceeded those issues in previous years and reached 27.26%," Olefirov said.
The consular department director has also said that Kyiv looked forward to the expansion of the categories of citizens who fall under the simplified procedure of Schengen visas issuance.
"According to the EU, under favorable circumstances, the agreement may be prepared for signing in May of this year," Olefirov said.
