On Thursday 1 March, Prime Minister Māris Kučinskis met with Volodymyr Groysman, Prime Minister of Ukraine in Rīga.
M. Kučinskis pointed out that, despite the difficult political and economic situation, the Latvian entrepreneurs continue to work in Ukraine. There is a wide range of areas where the Latvian and Ukrainian entrepreneurs could develop even closer cooperation: the chemical industry, including pharmacy, food industry, transport and logistics, as well as information and communication technologies. Latvia also has a platform for organizing transit and logistics in the region. Multimodal transport corridors cross the territory of Latvia from East to West and from North to South. The Prime Minister welcomed the fact that Ukraine has removed Latvia from the black list of controlled transfer-pricing countries, which would create serious economic difficulties for Latvian entrepreneurs.
As regards security, the Prime Minister reiterated that Latvia strongly supports the sovereignty of Ukraine and its territorial integrity.
"We support Ukraine through its reforms both bilaterally and as a member of the NATO Alliance. Latvia will continue to do so in the future, because we believe that Ukraine is important for the stability and security of the whole of Europe. It is important to find a peaceful, long-term solution to the conflict in the east of Ukraine, but such a solution must fully respect Ukraine's sovereignty and ensure territorial indivisibility," said M. Kučinskis.
Within the framework of international organizations, including the UN Human Rights Council, Latvia systematically raises the issue of the human rights situation in the Crimea, incl. violations of the Crimean Tatars' rights.
M. Kučinskis expressed his satisfaction over the fact that, in the period of twenty-six years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Latvia and Ukraine, we have managed to develop a diverse relationship that covers a wide range of cooperation issues. The relations between Latvia and Ukraine are characterized by an active and constructive high-level political dialogue and exchange of visits.
During the meeting, it was emphasized that Ukraine is a reliable partner of Latvia both in the field of economic cooperation and in terms of security.
Within the framework of the visit, two documents were signed, which promote co-operation in the field of education: the Letter of Intent on Cooperation to Support the Riga Ukrainian Secondary School between the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia and Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the General Agreement on Academic Cooperation between the Riga Technical University and the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”.
The turnover from trade in goods in 2017 has increased by 33% amounting to EUR 264 million. Ukraine ranks the 21st among the foreign trade partners of Latvia. In 2017, Ukraine was the 7th largest trading partner of Latvia among non-EU countries. In 2017, total trade in goods amounted to EUR 264 million. Turnover from trade in goods has increased by 32%, exports by 29%, while imports by 36%. At the end of Q3 of 2017, the turnover from trade in services with Ukraine amounted to EUR 63 million (exports - EUR 40 million, imports – EUR 23 million). Exports of services have remained relatively stable, while imports of services have increased by 15%.
Andrejs Vaivars
Press Secretary to the Prime Minister
Mob.: 29228678
E-mail: Andrejs.Vaivars@mk.gov.lv