Ukraine and Russia have agreed to expand cooperation in tourism and education, as well as to recognize each other's education certificates and degrees.
Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Dmytro Tabachnyk and Minister of Education of the Russian Federation Andrei Fursenko said after the meeting of the subcommittee on humanitarian cooperation of Ukrainian-Russian interstate commission in Kyiv on Wednesday that it had been successful.
The next meeting of the subcommittee has been scheduled for the second quarter of 2011 in Russia.
"We have signed a protocol summarizing the six-months of work of the central executive authorities of Ukraine and Russia… we have conducted a detailed study of the work done… We have fulfilled the agenda. We have outlined and prepared a number of interesting documents, which will promote various areas and aspects of Ukrainian-Russian humanitarian cooperation," the Ukrainian education minister said.
In turn, the Russian minister said: "We have much to share, and much to borrow."
Tabachnyk said that during the meeting the parties agreed on several measures of cooperation in tourism, in particular, the implementation of joint programs, the development of tourist routes, the exchange of statistical data, participation in tourist exhibitions, as well as a program of days of Ukrainian tourism in Russia and Russian tourism in Ukraine.
In addition, he said that Ukraine and Russia are ready to create special travel conditions, to facilitate attendance and participation at three sports events of global importance: Euro 2012, the 2014 Winter Olympics and the World Student Games, which will be held in 2013 in Kazan, Russia.
According to the minister, they discussed cooperation in the field of academic relations. He recalled that 2011 has been declared the Year of Ukrainian Education in the Russian Federation, and 2012 – the year of Russian education in Ukraine.
In addition, Tabachnyk said that Russia and Ukraine were to create a new version of the agreement on mutual recognition of education certificates and degrees, as its current version is outdated and has several flaws.
The meeting of the humanitarian subcommittee of the Ukrainian-Russian intergovernmental commission was attended by representatives of Ukraine’s Ministry of Health, Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports, Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, the Pension Fund, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
