Ukraine and Austria
pledge readiness to intensify political
dialogue and are interested in strengthening economic relations amid the growth
of joint trade turnover and reforms in
Ukraine. This was stated by
Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr
Groysman during a meeting with Federal
President of the Republic of
Austria Alexander Van der Bellen.
"Your friendly
visit is a good step towards
our rapprochement, Volodymyr Groysman emphasized, we are grateful for
the support of territorial integrity and condemnation
of Russian aggression. We constantly feel the support of
our European aspirations. We have a good economic
relationship. We are close enough,
and this encourages us to
develop our capabilities in various spheres."
"Ukraine and
Austria are closely tied, the
Federal President of Austria emphasized,
today we are commending the course of
reforms and are talking about
deepening economic, cultural and political
ties between our countries".
The Head of
Government stressed European integration is an irreversible
foreign policy choice of Ukraine.
That is why
official Kyiv is counting on
further intensification of the dialogue
on a wide range of issues
in view of
the Austrian Presidency of the
Council of the EU, which is
coming up in the second
half of the
year
The Prime Minister
briefed the President of Austria
on the current
economic situation in Ukraine and
plans to strengthen economy and to ensure
sustainable growth to the tune
of 5-7% annually. The adoption of
a large package of bills aimed
at solving 5 main tasks, in
particular, supporting and protecting business, deregulation, improving the business
climate, facilitating access to finance
and attracting investment, and encouraging innovation will contribute to the said goal. The creation
of Financial Intelligence Service and Anti-Corruption Court, and the continuation
of the initiated
reforms are among top priorities.
In this context
the Federal President of Austria
emphasized his visit to Ukraine
was of utmost
importance. Thus, the Austrian delegation
included about 40 representatives of business circles who took part
in the Ukrainian-Austrian business forum, which today opens
its work in Kyiv, and
also managed to make the
necessary contacts for the development
of bilateral business projects, especially in the
field of tourism, ecology, etc.
In the course
of the meeting
special attention has been given to the situation in
the east. "The annexation of Crimea and
the occupation of the eastern
regions are illegal. This is
a drastic violation of international law. Russia seems
to be under
the impression that its actions
will remain without punishment. However, we need
to prevent the existence of
such an impression”, the Federal President of Austria underscored.
Background
In terms of
bilateral trade in goods between
Ukraine and European countries, Austria ranked 14th with a share of
2.5% of the total. In 2017, the trade turnover
between our countries increased by 18.5% and reached
$ 1.2 billion
Austria as a member
of the EU is included in
the list of promising markets
for the export
of Ukrainian products in Ukraine
Export Strategy - Roadmap of Strategic
trade in 2017-2021 years.
Last year, Austria
invested a total of $1344.5 million in the Ukrainian
economy, which accounts for a 3.4% share of the
total volume of foreign direct
investment attracted by the country.