Today, the Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Olena Kondratiuk met with the newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Ukraine Seymur Mardaliyev.
First of all, the Vice Speaker thanked the Azerbaijani friends and partners on behalf of the Ukrainian Parliament for their continued support of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as for their constant humanitarian assistance.
“We are grateful to the President Ilham Aliyev for his decision to allocate $7.6 million for electrical equipment for Ukraine. This once again underlines the strategic nature of our relations. This is a very important contribution to Ukraine’s energy sustainability as we prepare for another difficult winter,” Olena Kondratiuk thanked.
According to the Ambassador, the relevant equipment is already being prepared and logistics are being worked out. The first batch of generators and transformers from Azerbaijan will be delivered to Ukraine soon.
“We will continue to provide and expand humanitarian aid to Ukraine,” Seymur Mardaliyev said.
In addition, the parties discussed and coordinated other important areas of humanitarian aid that will receive special attention.
In particular, they discussed recreation and psychological rehabilitation of Ukrainian children. According to the Vice Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, Azerbaijan will host 100 Ukrainian children this year. This was previously agreed upon with the leadership of the Parliament and the Minister of Social Protection of the Government of Azerbaijan during her visit to Baku.
Olena Kondratiuk also asked the Ambassador to assist in the rehabilitation of 35 “sunny children” from Kherson, who she and her volunteers are taking care of.
The conversation also touched upon Azerbaijan’s active participation in the reconstruction of Ukraine and the implementation of infrastructure projects, in particular, Azerbaijan plans to rebuild a cultural centre, an art centre for children, a sports facility and one of the destroyed residential buildings in Irpin.
The Vice Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament called on Azerbaijan to take an even more active part in humanitarian demining in Ukraine, providing special equipment and training for Ukrainian specialists.
Another important issue of the meeting was the treatment and rehabilitation of Ukrainian soldiers and veterans in Azerbaijan. Olena Kondratiuk reminded that she had addressed this request to the country’s authorities at bilateral meetings and now we have a result: “This year, Azerbaijan will host two groups of 10 Ukrainian soldiers for long-term rehabilitation and prosthetics. The first group is already being formed”.
The parties also noted a new stage in the development of interparliamentary cooperation. According to Olena Kondratiuk, this was facilitated by the recent participation of the Ukrainian parliamentary delegation, which she headed as the Vice Speaker, in a special session of the Milli Majlis dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev. In particular, bilateral meetings with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Mrs Sahiba Gafarova, both in Baku and on the platform of the G20 Parliamentary Forum.
The parties agreed that the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Ukraine would facilitate the development of inter-parliamentary cooperation between the Verkhovna Rada and the Milli Majlis and organise mutual visits of the leadership and parliamentary groups.
“We are always glad to see our Azerbaijani colleagues in Ukraine! They understand us like no one else, because they have also gone through the struggle for the restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,” the Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine said at the end of the meeting.