OREANDA-NEWS. September 15, 2011. President Viktor Yanukovych is confident that Ukrainian-Turkmen talks in Ashgabat will promote further strengthening of effective cooperation between Ukraine and Turkmenistan, he said after the Ukrainian-Turkmen talks chaired by him and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

"I am convinced the results of today’s negotiations, the reached agreements will contribute to expanding and deepening cooperation between Ukraine and Turkmenistan," Viktor Yanukovych said. He praised the talks as "very productive" and those that took place in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and trust. "Our informative conversation concerned all topical issues that are the subject of our bilateral cooperation," the President of Ukraine said.

According to him, the parties supported further deepening and expansion of mutually beneficial Turkmen-Ukrainian relations in various fields. In this context, Viktor Yanukovych praised the restoration of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation in 2011. "This is a tool that allows us to create conditions for productive discussion and adoption of a number of concrete decisions," the President of Ukraine said.

Viktor Yanukovych stressed that the two President’s mutual will to intensify political contacts between Ukraine and Turkmenistan, particularly at the highest level, will create all the conditions necessary for effective use of still untapped cooperation potential in various fields. "Certainly, we see real potential in some areas. I informed Mr. President on specific proposals of Ukrainian companies to expand cooperation with Turkmenistan," Viktor Yanukovych said.

He also said the Ukrainian side is interest in President Berdimuhamedov’s initiative to expand cooperation in energy facilities construction, including the construction of solar power plants. Another promising area of cooperation according to Viktor Yanukovych is space exploration.

The Governments of Ukraine and Turkmenistan have been instructed to develop specific plans of joint implementation of these projects, he said.

The President also noted the importance of humanitarian cooperation between Ukraine and Turkmenistan.

Viktor Yanukovych praised the bilateral documents signed today, including the Joint Statement on the development of relations of friendship and cooperation. "We have agreed to upgrade and expand the legal base of our bilateral relations," he said.

The Presidents of Ukraine and Turkmenistan have also noted the expediency of establishing closer cooperation between the two countries within international structures, including within the Commonwealth of Independent States.