OREANDA-NEWS. December 07, 2010. The Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov is convinced that Ukraine and Libya have all possibilities to bring the rates of turnover to 1 billion USD per year. The Head of the Government said in an interview to the Libyan newspaper Malmo wa Aamal (Finance and business), which he gave during his official visit to the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

Mykola Azarov noted that Ukraine regards Libya as a strategic partner in Africa and as the original leader of Africa: "But, unfortunately, these are still more potential possibilities than practical experience."

The Prime Minister said that currently bilateral trade volumes do not meet the country possibilities. According to the Head of the Government, only the first 8 months of this year, bilateral trade turnover between Ukraine and Egypt amounted to about 800 million USD, while with Libya it made only about 100 million USD. "We must take decisive steps to promote cooperation" - he stressed.

"I think that it is realistic to expect to bring the turnover performance to the level of 1 billion USD per year" - Mykola Azarov emphasized.

PM welcomes the high interest and participation of Libyan investors in multilateral investment projects in Ukraine, including construction of hotels in frame of preparation for the future European Football Championships in 2012. According to Mykola Azarov, the Government is also working to facilitate the implementation of bilateral projects, particularly agricultural project “100 hectares”, which includes the use of Ukrainian agricultural land on a rental basis for growing crops and their exports to Libya.

The Prime Minister said that during his meeting with the Secretary of Libyan People's Committee (Prime Minister) al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi priority measures for increasing the turnover were identified: implementation of mutually beneficial investment projects in oil and gas, machinery, aircraft and shipbuilding areas, chemical industry, agriculture, water management, and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

Moreover, according to Mykola Azarov at the meeting it was agreed to hold the 2011 National Exhibition of Libya in Ukraine, and in 2012 - National Exhibition of Ukraine in Libya, to attract the business circles of both countries to participate in exhibitions, international economic conferences, business Forums, which would take place in Ukraine and Libya. "I can say that in this direction we have already achieved certain results, as the representatives of Ukrainian business community on the invitation of Chamber of Trade, Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Tripoli and the Libyan Businessmen Council intend to participate in Euro-Africa Economic Forum to be held in Tripoli" – the Prime Minister stressed.