The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Rybak met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel to Ukraine Reuven Dinel.
During the meeting, Volodymyr Rybak noted the positive development of Ukrainian-Israeli relations, intense dynamics of political dialogue and the current level of understanding and trust that have developed in recent years between the two countries. According to him, the tradition of the old-established relations between the Ukrainian and Jewish peoples, as well as significant potential of trade-economic, investment, military-technical and scientific-technical cooperation create the preconditions for the rise of Ukrainian-Israeli relations to a qualitatively new level of partnership.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada emphasized that strengthening of inter-parliamentary relations is an important factor in the development of international relations. In this context, Ukraine is ready to continue the practice of regular inter-parliamentary contacts at the highest levels with the State of Israel. "Intensification of the relationship will be possible after the formation of a new friendship group of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with the State of Israel, and a relevant group in the Israeli Parliament," the Chairman of the Parliament said and announced that 71 people’s deputies submitted the applications to join the Ukrainian friendship group.
Discussing the issues of trade and economic cooperation, Volodymyr Rybak said that the State of Israel is one of the most promising trade partners of Ukraine in the Middle East. According to him, the introduction of a visa-free regime between the two countries had a positive impact on increasing of bilateral trade and strengthening of business contacts of business communities.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada expressed confidence that the creation of free trade area will contribute to further development of existing potential, noting that both parties are ready to start work on a project of relevant statement. He called for strengthening cooperation in energy, science and technology, medicine and cultural sphere.
Taking into consideration world-known achievements of the State of Israel in the field of medicine and the process of modernizing the health care system in Ukraine, Volodymyr Rybak called the extension of cooperation in this area one of the most promising directions in bilateral relations.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada stressed that the humanitarian contacts between Ukraine and Israel remain an important component of all complex of bilateral relations. Significant role in their development plays a Jewish community of immigrants from Ukraine in the Holy Land, whose members have made a significant contribution to the creation and establishment of the State of Israel.
In his turn, the Ambassador called for the strengthening of cooperation between the two countries, particularly in high-tech sphere: missile and aircraft engineering, instrumentation etc. One of the important directions of the development of relations is the cooperation in the field of health care.
Reuven Dinel believes there is significant potential for further extension of bilateral cooperation, and there are no obstacles for the further development of bilateral relations. Thereat, the Ambassador stressed the important role of parliaments in activation of mutually-beneficial cooperation.