REUTERS
Ukraine and Georgia should intensify cooperation in setting up the deliveries of energy carriers from the Caspian region via the routes of the Chinese infrastructure project, Silk Road, according to President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko who spoke at an investment forum in Batumi Wednesday.
The head of state praised the agreement on the establishment of direct international railway connection through the ports of Ukraine and Georgia signed last year, according to the president’s press service.
“We agreed to continue our cooperation in this area,” the president informed.
According to Petro Poroshenko, the document will connect Ukraine and Georgia with other countries on the Great Silk Road. “Supply of energy carriers from the Caspian Sea via this route is an important issue,” the president saod. He is confident that entering the new reliable markets creates stability of the domestic economy.
Read alsoUkrainian, Georgian presidents agree to intensify free trade"The agreement connects us (Ukraine and Georgia - UNIAN), Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan on the Silk Road." An important issue is the organization of deliveries of this route by energy carriers from the hydrocarbon rich Caspian region," the president said. According to him, Ukraine and Georgia intend to continue cooperation within the framework of the Silk Road given the two countries’ great transit potential.
"We’ve agreed that we will resolutely continue cooperation to this end because Ukraine and Georgia have a unique geographical location, no matter where they’re going from, whether it’s China, Iran, or Turkmenistan – one can’t bypass Ukraine and Georgia. So we need to be stronger and more efficient," Poroshenko stressed.
Read alsoUkraine, Georgia expect to double tradeAs UNIAN reported earlier, Georgian Prime Minister Georgi Kvirikashvili said he considered it promising to create a logistics transit corridor within the Silk Road framework, as well as a free trade zone with Ukraine. Ukraine and Georgia expect in the medium term to increase the annual trade from $526 million (in 2016) to $1 billion.