Ukrainian and Slovak presidents, Viktor Yushchenko and Ivan Gasparovic, conferred at the Uzhgorod border checkpoint on cross-border cooperation. The Ukrainian team included presidential Chief-of-Staff Viktor Baloha, Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko, State Customs Service Chief Valery Khoroshkovsky, first deputy Head of the State Border Service Pavlo Shysholin, and Zakarpattya Oblast Governor Oleh Havashi, the ZIK correspondent reports.
Among other topics, the talks addressed cooperation in the energy sector and Slovakia’s participation in the Energy Summit due May 22-23 in Kyiv. The presidents also discussed pumping Caspian light oil via the Druzhba pipeline and supplies of electricity to Slovakia. The presidents instructed appropriate ministries in both countries to analyze the sales of electricity and come up with concrete proposals within 2-3 weeks.
Yushchenko and Gasparovic have agreed that border crossing procedures should be simplified. Both countries have opted for easy travel for residents of border regions and joint customs control. The agreement on easy travel is already in the pipeline awaiting harmonization by both countries.
Ukraine’s European integration and entry in the WTO have also been on the agenda, with the Slovak president assuring every support for Ukraine’s European ambitions.
In the course of their meeting, both presidents visited the Ukrainian and Slovak cargo terminals at the Uzhgorod border checkpoint.