Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman has said that within the framework of his working visit to Latvia on March 2 he holds talks on the situation in Donbas and the strengthening of the bilateral political dialogue with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis.
“The second day of the visit to Latvia. We are in talks with President of the Republic of Latvia Vejonis. The main topics are the strengthening of the political dialogue, the situation in the East of Ukraine, the prospects of the UN peacekeeping mission in Donbas,” Groysman wrote on his Twitter account on March 2 morning.
As reported, the premier announced during the Dragon Capital investment conference on March 1 morning, that he would leave for Riga on a working visit.
“Today I am working in Kyiv in the first half of the day, the second half of the day I am working with colleagues in Riga, Latvia,” said Groysman. He did not give any other details about the visit.
Later on March 1, the press service of Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers informed that Groysman and Prime Minister of Latvia Maris Kucinskis had discussed the possibilities of investment and innovative cooperation in the agricultural sector and logistics.
“Among the important areas of innovative cooperation, the parties identified the agricultural sector and logistics, primarily in the context of using the Zubr train route that connects the ports of Illichivsk, Odesa and Yuzhny to the ports of Riga, Ventspils, Liepaja and Tallinn,” the message reads.
During the meeting, the premieres of Ukraine and Latvia also noted that the volume of mutual trade in goods and services increased by 27 percent last year with a positive balance for Ukraine of $102.6 million. The trade turnover between the two countries in 2017 amounted to $462 million; the key items of Ukrainian exports to Latvia are mineral fuels, oil, boilers and machinery, organic, food products, metals. Pharmaceuticals, light industry goods, land transport are among items of import.
Following the talks, Groysman and Kucinskis took part in the signing of two international documents: a protocol of intentions between the Ministries of Education and Science of Ukraine and Latvia on the work of the Ukrainian school in Riga, as well as the basic agreement on cooperation between the Riga Technical University and the National Technical University “Kyiv Polytechnic Institute named after Ihor Sikorsky.”
