Arseniy Yatsenyuk to participate in the inaugural meeting of the EU-Ukraine Association Council

Through 15-16 December, a Ukrainian delegation led by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk is paying a working visit to Brussels to participate in the inaugural meeting of the Association Council of Ukraine and the European Union.

This is the first meeting of this body, which was established in compliance with the provisions of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. The EU delegation will be headed by Vice-President of the European Commission, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.

The event will concern, in particular, issues of joint counteraction to the Russian aggression in the East of Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea, the support by the European Union of the programme of reforming of the Ukrainian Government and the implementation of the Association Agreement with the EU, progress in the implementation by Ukraine of the conditions to introduce a visa-free regime with the EU and energy security issues.

The Ukrainian delegation includes Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Aivaras Abromavicius, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin, Minister of Justice of Ukraine Pavlo Petrenko, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Natalia Yaresko, Chairman of the Naftogaz of Ukraine Board Andrii Kobolev, Director of the Government Office for European Integration of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Natalia Gnydiuk.

The programme of the visit to Brussels also envisages meetings of Arseniy Yatsenyuk with President of the European Council Donald Tusk and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

The Head of Ukrainian Government will speak at a conference of the European Policy Centre dedicated to the priorities of the new Cabinet of Ministers.

It is expected that in the framework of the visit of the Ukrainian delegation to Brussels there will take place signing of a Loan agreement (Ukraine: modernization of the main gas pipeline "Urengoy - Pomary - Uzhgorod”) between Ukraine and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. This document envisages attraction of funds worth up to USD 200 million for the reconstruction and modernization of the national gas transmission system.