The 9th Session of the Italian-Ukrainian Council for Economic, Industrial and Financial Cooperation was held in virtual format.
Minister Luigi Di Maio kicked off the Council meeting with a video-message in which he emphasised the strengthening of Italian-Ukrainian relations during 2020, through the exchange of visits at the highest level and also recalled the mutual expressions of friendship and solidarity in coping with the Covid-19 emergency in Italy and the floods in Ukraine.
The Minister welcomed the return of bilateral exchange to pre-2014 levels (except for the last period, conditioned by COVID-19), recognizing the opportunities for further development of bilateral cooperation and expressing support for Ukraine’s internal reform efforts under the leadership of President Zelensky.
The Italian-Ukrainian Council was chaired by Deputy Minister Manlio Di Stefano and Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Kovalchuk and was also attended by the heads of ICE, SACE, SIMEST, Confindustria, thus demonstrating the attention paid by Italian businesses to the opportunities offered by the Ukrainian market.
Thanks to the participation of the heads of institutions and companies operating on the Ukrainian market, the meeting afforded specific insights into the fields of infrastructure, energy, cooperation in the banking and financial sector, space and digitization, which have highlighted promising opportunities for bilateral cooperation.
“We are optimistic about the future of our collaboration in all these areas, and we count on the commitment of the Ukrainian institutions to ensure the broadest participation of Italian operators in the modernization and privatization effort involving large sectors of the Ukrainian economy, according to the ambitious reform plan of the government in Kiev.”- Mr. Di Stefano concluded.
At the end of the Council session, Deputy Minister Di Stefano signed with the Ukrainian Minister of Culture, Tkachenko, a bilateral cooperation program in the field of culture for 2021-2025. The conclusion of negotiations on agreements in the areas of civil protection, space and security was also welcomed.
On the sidelines of the Italian-Ukrainian Council session, Minister Di Maio had a cordial telephone conversation with the Ukrainian co-chairman of the Council, Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov, during which the main bilateral cooperation dossiers were reviewed.