OREANDA-NEWS. January 20, 2012. Ukraine and the United States are interested in developing cooperation in the energy sector, particularly in gas production and nuclear power. This was discussed at the meeting of the Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov with the U.S. Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy Richard L. Morningstar.

During the meeting, the sides noted that both countries have great potential to develop cooperation in many areas.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov supports participation of representative organizations of the USA in the conference "Ukrainian dialogue on the formulation of energy policy: natural gas and energy future of Ukraine", held in Kyiv. He noted that Ukraine intends to significantly increase volumes of gas of own extraction. "We would be grateful if the U.S. investors would cooperate with us in the developing and exploration deposits," Mykola Azarov said.

"We highly appreciate our cooperation, particularly in the energy sector," said the Head of Ukrainian Government. Thus, he called the prospective development of cooperation between Ukraine and the United States in sphere of nuclear energy.

The PM thanked the U.S. Government for its contribution in the amount of 123 million dollars for Chernobyl projects, including for the conversion of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Object Shelter (Sarcophagus) into an ecologically safe system.

In turn, the U.S. Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy Richard L. Morningstar underlined that the U.S. always pays special attention to Ukraine and are willing to cooperate in many areas: "We see Ukraine as an important partner country."