OREANDA-NEWS. October 12, 2011. Infrastructure of port cities in Northern Greece offers opportunities for expansion of transport links between Ukraine and Greece. It has been stated by President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych during a meeting with representatives of business circles of Northern Greece in Thessaloniki.

“Infrastructure of port cities like Thessaloniki, Kavala, and Alexandroupoli allows the expansion of transport links between our countries,” the President said.

According to the President, evidence of a significant interest in developing trade and economic cooperation between the regions of Ukraine and the region of Northern Greece is the recent creation of Greek-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce in Thessaloniki, which unites 25 Greek companies from various spheres of economic activity. Viktor Yanukovych added that several companies of Northern Greece have already been successfully working in Ukraine.

According to the President, a number of Greek companies expressed interest in cooperation with Ukraine in the medical sector, food products, decorative materials, shoes, furniture and more.

The President called credit opportunities of Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, whose headquarters is situated in Thessaloniki, additional benefits for the development of this cooperation. "Bigger focus of this banking institution to finance projects that would contribute to developing trade and economic relations between Ukraine and Greece would be mutually beneficial for both countries," the President said.

The President drew attention to significant industrial, agricultural and tourism potential of Northern Greece.

"The geographic closeness of Northern Greece to southern regions of Ukraine and the historical traditions determine the possibility of expanding your cooperation with Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kherson region and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea," Viktor Yanukovych said, referring to the entrepreneurs.

On the other hand, according to the President, a considerable economic potential of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and other regions of Ukraine allows to develop mutually beneficial business contacts between Ukrainian and Greek companies.

Viktor Yanukovych also noted that Northern Greece traditionally works on developing the tourism industry. "In the course of our negotiations we stressed yesterday that the simplified visa procedure and corresponding active advertising campaign will promote the increase of bilateral tourist flows in both directions," the Head of Ukraine said.