Ukraine and Denmark express readiness to give a significant impetus to economic cooperation and to actively engage in counteraction to hybrid aggression. This was discussed during the talks of Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman and Head of the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark Lars Løkke Rasmussen. In due time, the Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen was one of the top foreign guests whom Volodymyr Groysman received as the Prime Minister in Kyiv. And the current visit of the Head of Ukraine’s Government to Denmark is the first in the history of the Independent Ukraine.

Denmark is among the key partners of Ukraine in the economic and political spheres and is considered one of the priority markets within the Export Strategy. Last year the export volumes of Ukrainian goods to Denmark exceeded USD 263 million. However, Volodymyr Groysman highlighted, the potential of our countries is untapped.

"We should give a political momentum to our cooperation, to urge the Ukrainian and Danish businesses to interact more actively, as well as jointly counteract Russian aggression", stressed the Prime Minister of Ukraine.

The PM reminded that for several consecutive quarters Ukraine demonstrates positive dynamics in economy development, and among the key directions of the Government's activities are privatization, deregulation, improvement of the investment climate, infrastructure modernization, energy sector reform, preparation for a land reform and support for farmers, promoting innovations and further implementation of already launched social reforms - in education, pension provision and healthcare.

In this regard, the Head of Ukraine’s Government commended the contribution of Danish experts in the development of crucial managerial decisions, in particular, in the implementation of the EU Anticorruption Initiative in Ukraine and in support for the activities of the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights.

The parties expressed confidence that the conference dedicated to reforms in Ukraine scheduled for tomorrow, June 27, would be efficient.

Apart from that, the top officials of the two countries touched upon energy cooperation issues. Denmark is among world's leading countries in energy conservation and renewable energy sources. Therefore, Ukraine is ready to contribute to the development of Danish companies' energy projects.

Among other things, Kyiv looks forward to the further unity in the issue of counteracting the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline considered a direct threat to the energy security of not just Ukraine alone, but European countries as well.

Background

Ukrainian-Danish economic cooperation is gaining momentum and is growing at a rapid pace. One of the reasons for this increase is effect of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and the Free Trade Area. During the first quarter of 2018, turnover in goods and services between Ukraine and Denmark amounted to $ 136.9 million. More than 150 Danish companies are already operating in Ukraine and a major number of them are located in Western Ukraine. The key areas of cooperation are agriculture, IT and light industry. The main Ukrainian export items are textiles, furniture, agricultural products, telecommunication and information services. The key import articles are machine-building products, pharmaceuticals and food products.