Saakashvili Hails Ties with Ukraine

Georgia has no ?ill-wishers in Ukraine; we have only well-wishers at all levels of the Ukrainian establishment,? President Saakashvili said after talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Victor Yushchenko in Tbilisi on March 1.

?We do not need to explain that Ukraine is Georgia?s close friend and ally. But we should think over the progress that has been achieved by the two countries in recent years. Since 2004 the annual growth of trade amounts to 50%… Exports of Georgian wine to Ukraine increased by two or three times last year. This is a serious step ahead, although I think that there are many more opportunities on the Ukrainian market. We have given strict instructions to the Agriculture Minister to establish strict control on the quality of exported wine. The quality of this wine has significantly improved recently. But we need more control to rule out any misunderstandings,? Saakashvili said.

?All other aspects of cooperation are working well. I can say that actually a free trade regime is in force between our countries. There remain several unsolved technical issues, but still the economic relationship between Ukraine and Georgia is one of the successful examples of a free trade regime,? he added.

President Yushchenko said that the two countries should foster more economic cooperation.

He noted that despite positive trend in bilateral economic ties, problems still remain concerning trade with tobacco and sugar.

President Saakashvili also said that the increasing number of direct flights between the two countries is another sign of close relations.

?When I became the President of Georgia, only one flight was conducted to Kiev per week. And it was half-empty. Today we conduct daily flights,? Saakashvili said.
 
?Such an atmosphere simplifies the relations between the two peoples. I have not counted how many new mixed Ukrainian-Georgian families have been created recently. Unmarried Ukrainian ladies should indeed become one of the major sources of Ukrainian export to Georgia, and indeed we have created all the necessary conditions for this: we have flights, Georgian wine quality is improving, and the rest remains in place, including beaches, mountains – and I will not continue listing different places in Georgia,? Saakashvili said.

President Yushchenko started his two-day official visit to Georgia on March 1. The governments of two countries have already signed agreements on the protection of geographic names for wines, spirits and mineral waters, and on the terms for the joint exploitation of traffic between the Ukrainian port of Kerch and the Georgian ports of Batumi and Poti.

President Yushchenko and his Georgian counterpart Mikheil Saakashvili are expected to inaugurate a monument of the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko in Tbilisi. President Yushchenko also plans to visit the Museum of Soviet Occupation in Tbilisi on March 2.

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