KIEV, Ukraine -- NATO is ready in the future to involve Ukraine into discussing the deployment of missile defenses in Europe.
James Appathurai, NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, said this at a news conference in Moscow, as the UKRINFORM correspondent in Russia reported.
At this stage, NATO, he said, is in talks on this issue only with Russia, but the alliance's secretary-general is very well aware of the importance of a coordinated defense for Europe's future.
That's why, Appathurai said, they hope to continue the discussion (of the ABM issue) and start cooperating with other countries.
So all the European nations, including Ukraine, must be sure that the task is not to conduct a watershed in Europe, but to provide common defense, he added.
The Special Representative also said they respect the choice of the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people to have a non-aligned status. But the intention to cooperate with Ukraine since then has not diminished, and NATO continues to remember the obligations assumed in Bucharest, he noted.
According to Appathurai, it seems clear to the alliance that the Ukrainian government intends to further develop its cooperation with NATO in various fields.
He also indicated that Ukraine is actively continuing to participate in NATO operations.
As reported, in early November 2010, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, during his visit to Moscow, said he did not rule out the inclusion of the Ukrainian early warning systems in Sevastopol and Mukacheve in the European missile defense system.
November 23 in Warsaw, Secretary of National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Raisa Bohatyriova stated that Ukraine was ready to take part in the European missile defense system that NATO planned to create to protect Europe and the US.
December 15, NSDC First Deputy Secretary Stepan Havrysh said that Ukraine could take part in the creation of NATO missile defense system only together with Russia.
Friday, 18 February 2011
Ukraine Needs To Improve Business Environment, Says IMF Resident Representative
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine needs to take steps to improve its business environment, Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund in Ukraine Max Alier has said.
"…An important issue, which needs to be considered but doesn't receive enough attention, is the business environment. At the macro level, the indicators seem to be positive, and this can be seen in several sectors: demand is reviving, consumption is resuming, the economy is emerging from crisis. However, problems are being exposed, ranging from tax legislation, management, administration, laws, and customs. In agriculture, there are quotas on grain exports that are allocated absolutely non-transparently," Alier said during the 4th Annual Summit "Ukrainian Real Estate and Construction" organized by Adam Smith Institute in Kyiv on Wednesday.
According to Alier, the business environment in Ukraine is not getting better, but worse.
He noted that without improving its business environment, the country would not be able to realize its full potential and significantly speed up its economic growth.
Alier also stressed the need for structural reforms in the country.
There are some structural reforms that are currently lagging behind in Ukraine, compared with other countries, but it is very important that they should be carried out, he said.
"…An important issue, which needs to be considered but doesn't receive enough attention, is the business environment. At the macro level, the indicators seem to be positive, and this can be seen in several sectors: demand is reviving, consumption is resuming, the economy is emerging from crisis. However, problems are being exposed, ranging from tax legislation, management, administration, laws, and customs. In agriculture, there are quotas on grain exports that are allocated absolutely non-transparently," Alier said during the 4th Annual Summit "Ukrainian Real Estate and Construction" organized by Adam Smith Institute in Kyiv on Wednesday.
According to Alier, the business environment in Ukraine is not getting better, but worse.
He noted that without improving its business environment, the country would not be able to realize its full potential and significantly speed up its economic growth.
Alier also stressed the need for structural reforms in the country.
There are some structural reforms that are currently lagging behind in Ukraine, compared with other countries, but it is very important that they should be carried out, he said.
How To Turn A 'Partly Free' Ukraine Into A 'Not Free' Ukraine
KIEV, Ukraine -- Some Western policymakers continue to argue that Ukraine's political system is unlikely to evolve into a full authoritarian system along the lines of Russia and Belarus, President Viktor Yanukovych will slow down his authoritarian blitzkrieg, they argue, and the system will stabilize into a semi-authoritarian system.
In other words, Ukraine will stabilize at "partly free," the semi-authoritarian status that Freedom House gave it throughout the Leonid Kuchma era and to which it returned in 2010 after Yanukovych's first year in office.
An alternative viewpoint that's gaining ground is that Ukraine will decline further to "not free," the full authoritarian status that independent Ukraine has never held. If this were to take place, Ukraine would join the eight authoritarian CIS countries (Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, and the five Central Asian states) that are classified as "not free" by the U.S.-based rights watchdog.
The Yanukovych administration has moved farther down the path of authoritarianism in only one year in office than Kuchma did in a decade. Both administrations resorted to taking political prisoners.
Under Kuchma, members of UNA-UNSO (Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian People's Self-Defense) were imprisoned for their alleged involvement in the March 2001 riots. Under Yanukovych, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her former cabinet members are either under arrest or threatened with criminal charges.
Under Kuchma, elections were falsified in 1999 and 2004 -- on both occasions with the assistance of Yanukovych at the local and national levels. Under Yanukovych, local elections were falsified last year.
Free elections can only be trusted to democratic forces such as Yushchenko, under whose watch high-quality elections were held in 2006, 2007, and 2010. Yanukovych is destroying the institution of free elections that brought him to power.
In the 2002, 2006-07, and 2010 parliaments, Kuchma and Yanukovych both sought to bribe, coerce, and blackmail opposition deputies to defect to the ruling coalition. Usually these were business leaders in the opposition, whether members of the Liberal Party in 2002 led by Volodymyr Shcherban or the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs led by Anatoliy Kinakh in 2007.
The Communist Party (KPU) never entered government under Kuchma, but has joined both coalitions established by Yanukovych: the anticrisis coalition in 2006-07 and Stability and Reforms since 2010. The neo-Stalinist KPU is anti-reform and anti-Western, and therefore any coalition that includes such a political force cannot honestly be described as "reformist."
There has also been regression on national identity questions. The KPU and Yanukovych's Party of Regions voted against the 2006 law on the 1933 artificial famine (Holodomor) and the pages on the famine on the presidential website were removed on February 25, 2010, the day Yanukovych was inaugurated. In 2003, by contrast, Kuchma launched an international campaign to support the designation of the Holodomor as an act of genocide.
Collapse Of Independent Institutions
Parliament became a rubber-stamp institution under Yanukovych for the first time in its history, because Kuchma never had a stable majority. Yanukovych's Stability and Reforms coalition has bought in 50 opposition deputies, giving it more than 260 in total in the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada.
The courts are in far worse condition today than under Kuchma. Supreme Court Chief Justice Vasyl Onopenko told the "Kyiv Post" that "courts as judicial bodies and judges have lost their independence. This is a direct threat to the judicial protection of human rights."
After the summer 2010 reform of the judiciary. "the Supreme Court has been denied the ability to perform its constitutional function," Onopenko said. "No one guarantees the unity of case law and equal application of laws in state courts. The Supreme Court, which previously did it, is now deprived of such powers."
Yanukovych has marginalized the Supreme Court as personal revenge for its December 2004 annulling of his second-round election victory. In a February 11 interview with the BBC, Yanukovych again repeated that the Supreme Court had infringed the constitution in 2004 when it annulled his election and that he had won a "free election."
Under both Kuchma and Yanukovych, the unreformed "siloviki," or security forces -- the Security Service (SBU), the Interior Ministry (MVS), and the Tax Police -- have been used against the political opposition and independent media.
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov led the Tax Police throughout its first seven years of existence (1996-2002). The SBU under Yanukovych has adopted authoritarian tactics against academics, NGO activists, politicians, and journalists for the first time since under its predecessor, the Soviet Ukrainian KGB, in the pre-Gorbachev era.
In the 1990s the MVS was more under democratic control than today, as its Internal Troops had been taken away in 1991 and transformed into a National Guard. But these were returned to the MVS in 2000 and have, like in other postcommunist systems, become the president's praetorian guard.
On November 28, 2004, the MVS troops were ordered to Kiev by Prime Minister Yanukovych, over Kuchma's head, to violently suppress the Orange Revolution. But they were turned back by the army.
Journalists Disappear
Under Kuchma the murder of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze became an international scandal after a tape recording was released in which the president allegedly ordered Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko to violently beat Gongadze.
What is less well known is that journalist Ihor Aleksandrov was also killed in 2001 in Donetsk when Yanukovych was governor of the region.
Last month, "The Washington Post" asked Yanukovych about Kharkiv editor Vasyl Klymentyev, who disappeared only seven months after Yanukovych was elected. The MVS assumes he has been killed.
Yanukovych nonchalantly replied, "Many journalists disappear all over the world."
Media censorship took place under Kuchma, but the situation is worse today. What differentiates the Kuchma and Yanukovych presidencies was that total censorship under the former was impossible because of the strength of the opposition, inside and outside parliament, and pluralism within the ruling elites.
Yanukovych claims that "mercenaries" in the West have been bought to write negatively about Ukraine and that the Czech government was bribed to grant former Economy Minister Bohdan Danylyshyn political asylum.
Yanukovych's worldview exports Ukraine's domestic situation -- where Ukrainian journalists are often paid to place articles and politicians and cabinet ministers are often corrupt -- to the outside world. This worldview does not see either the legitimacy of Western criticism or the legitimacy of domestic criticism by the opposition and media.
Yanukovych refuses to acknowledge that democratic regression is taking place on his watch and, in this, he is similar to Kuchma. But, in five areas -- political repression, parliamentary independence, media censorship, the use of the "siloviki," and quality of elections -- democratic regression is worse under Yanukovych than it was under Kuchma.
If it continues, it will lead to Ukraine becoming ranked as "not free" by the end of Yanukovych's first term in office, following Kyrgyzstan, which dropped after its 2005 Tulip Revolution from "partly free" to "not free" in 2010.
In other words, Ukraine will stabilize at "partly free," the semi-authoritarian status that Freedom House gave it throughout the Leonid Kuchma era and to which it returned in 2010 after Yanukovych's first year in office.
An alternative viewpoint that's gaining ground is that Ukraine will decline further to "not free," the full authoritarian status that independent Ukraine has never held. If this were to take place, Ukraine would join the eight authoritarian CIS countries (Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, and the five Central Asian states) that are classified as "not free" by the U.S.-based rights watchdog.
The Yanukovych administration has moved farther down the path of authoritarianism in only one year in office than Kuchma did in a decade. Both administrations resorted to taking political prisoners.
Under Kuchma, members of UNA-UNSO (Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian People's Self-Defense) were imprisoned for their alleged involvement in the March 2001 riots. Under Yanukovych, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her former cabinet members are either under arrest or threatened with criminal charges.
Under Kuchma, elections were falsified in 1999 and 2004 -- on both occasions with the assistance of Yanukovych at the local and national levels. Under Yanukovych, local elections were falsified last year.
Free elections can only be trusted to democratic forces such as Yushchenko, under whose watch high-quality elections were held in 2006, 2007, and 2010. Yanukovych is destroying the institution of free elections that brought him to power.
In the 2002, 2006-07, and 2010 parliaments, Kuchma and Yanukovych both sought to bribe, coerce, and blackmail opposition deputies to defect to the ruling coalition. Usually these were business leaders in the opposition, whether members of the Liberal Party in 2002 led by Volodymyr Shcherban or the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs led by Anatoliy Kinakh in 2007.
The Communist Party (KPU) never entered government under Kuchma, but has joined both coalitions established by Yanukovych: the anticrisis coalition in 2006-07 and Stability and Reforms since 2010. The neo-Stalinist KPU is anti-reform and anti-Western, and therefore any coalition that includes such a political force cannot honestly be described as "reformist."
There has also been regression on national identity questions. The KPU and Yanukovych's Party of Regions voted against the 2006 law on the 1933 artificial famine (Holodomor) and the pages on the famine on the presidential website were removed on February 25, 2010, the day Yanukovych was inaugurated. In 2003, by contrast, Kuchma launched an international campaign to support the designation of the Holodomor as an act of genocide.
Collapse Of Independent Institutions
Parliament became a rubber-stamp institution under Yanukovych for the first time in its history, because Kuchma never had a stable majority. Yanukovych's Stability and Reforms coalition has bought in 50 opposition deputies, giving it more than 260 in total in the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada.
The courts are in far worse condition today than under Kuchma. Supreme Court Chief Justice Vasyl Onopenko told the "Kyiv Post" that "courts as judicial bodies and judges have lost their independence. This is a direct threat to the judicial protection of human rights."
After the summer 2010 reform of the judiciary. "the Supreme Court has been denied the ability to perform its constitutional function," Onopenko said. "No one guarantees the unity of case law and equal application of laws in state courts. The Supreme Court, which previously did it, is now deprived of such powers."
Yanukovych has marginalized the Supreme Court as personal revenge for its December 2004 annulling of his second-round election victory. In a February 11 interview with the BBC, Yanukovych again repeated that the Supreme Court had infringed the constitution in 2004 when it annulled his election and that he had won a "free election."
Under both Kuchma and Yanukovych, the unreformed "siloviki," or security forces -- the Security Service (SBU), the Interior Ministry (MVS), and the Tax Police -- have been used against the political opposition and independent media.
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov led the Tax Police throughout its first seven years of existence (1996-2002). The SBU under Yanukovych has adopted authoritarian tactics against academics, NGO activists, politicians, and journalists for the first time since under its predecessor, the Soviet Ukrainian KGB, in the pre-Gorbachev era.
In the 1990s the MVS was more under democratic control than today, as its Internal Troops had been taken away in 1991 and transformed into a National Guard. But these were returned to the MVS in 2000 and have, like in other postcommunist systems, become the president's praetorian guard.
On November 28, 2004, the MVS troops were ordered to Kiev by Prime Minister Yanukovych, over Kuchma's head, to violently suppress the Orange Revolution. But they were turned back by the army.
Journalists Disappear
Under Kuchma the murder of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze became an international scandal after a tape recording was released in which the president allegedly ordered Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko to violently beat Gongadze.
What is less well known is that journalist Ihor Aleksandrov was also killed in 2001 in Donetsk when Yanukovych was governor of the region.
Last month, "The Washington Post" asked Yanukovych about Kharkiv editor Vasyl Klymentyev, who disappeared only seven months after Yanukovych was elected. The MVS assumes he has been killed.
Yanukovych nonchalantly replied, "Many journalists disappear all over the world."
Media censorship took place under Kuchma, but the situation is worse today. What differentiates the Kuchma and Yanukovych presidencies was that total censorship under the former was impossible because of the strength of the opposition, inside and outside parliament, and pluralism within the ruling elites.
Yanukovych claims that "mercenaries" in the West have been bought to write negatively about Ukraine and that the Czech government was bribed to grant former Economy Minister Bohdan Danylyshyn political asylum.
Yanukovych's worldview exports Ukraine's domestic situation -- where Ukrainian journalists are often paid to place articles and politicians and cabinet ministers are often corrupt -- to the outside world. This worldview does not see either the legitimacy of Western criticism or the legitimacy of domestic criticism by the opposition and media.
Yanukovych refuses to acknowledge that democratic regression is taking place on his watch and, in this, he is similar to Kuchma. But, in five areas -- political repression, parliamentary independence, media censorship, the use of the "siloviki," and quality of elections -- democratic regression is worse under Yanukovych than it was under Kuchma.
If it continues, it will lead to Ukraine becoming ranked as "not free" by the end of Yanukovych's first term in office, following Kyrgyzstan, which dropped after its 2005 Tulip Revolution from "partly free" to "not free" in 2010.
Viktor Yanukovych: Yulia Tymoshenko Should Be Allowed To Move With No Restrictions
KIEV, Ukraine -- Viktor Yanukovych believes that Yulia Tymoshenko should have an opportunity to go to Brussels. "If she has a desire to go, then she shouldn't be denied the right to move with no restrictions," said Ukrainian President to the journalists.
When asked by reporters about the situation with the criminal persecution of the former prime minister of Ukraine, and now an opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych expressed his concern about the decisions made by the Prosecutor General's Office that investigates allegations of misuse of state budget funds.
Viktor Yanukovych told journalists that he particularly voiced his concern during a recent meeting with an Attorney General.
"I am frustrated with the choice of the Prosecutor General with regards to his sanctions against Yulia Tymoshenko. The fight against corruption should be conducted regardless of political views and colors of the party flags. This investigation should be respectful of those people whose activities are being investigated and should impeccably follow the letter of the law," - said Victor Yanukovych.
The Ukrainian leader stressed that fighting corruption should be devoid of politics. He also mentioned that this case should not allow for the public to have an impression about the selective criminal persecution.
Victor Yanukovych said, that he had talked to some leaders of European institutions, who would be willing to see Tymoshenko in Brussels. "I believe she should have such an opportunity. If she has a desire to go, then she shouldn't be denied the right to move with no restrictions," highlighted the Ukrainian leader.
Suffice it to say, that the investigator at the Prosecutor General's Office did not grant the request of Yulia Tymoshenko to allow her to travel outside Ukraine based on sanctions against her - the recognizance not to leave.
Tymoshenko is accused of misappropriation of hundreds of millions of dollars received by Ukraine under the Kyoto Protocol, which should have been invested into environmental programs.
In addition, Yulia Tymoshenko is charged with embezzlement of state funds while procuring ambulances at inflated prices.
Earlier, an international audit of Tymoshenko's government has revealed numerous financial irregularities including failure to follow proper tender procedures while making state procurements.
When asked by reporters about the situation with the criminal persecution of the former prime minister of Ukraine, and now an opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych expressed his concern about the decisions made by the Prosecutor General's Office that investigates allegations of misuse of state budget funds.
Viktor Yanukovych told journalists that he particularly voiced his concern during a recent meeting with an Attorney General.
"I am frustrated with the choice of the Prosecutor General with regards to his sanctions against Yulia Tymoshenko. The fight against corruption should be conducted regardless of political views and colors of the party flags. This investigation should be respectful of those people whose activities are being investigated and should impeccably follow the letter of the law," - said Victor Yanukovych.
The Ukrainian leader stressed that fighting corruption should be devoid of politics. He also mentioned that this case should not allow for the public to have an impression about the selective criminal persecution.
Victor Yanukovych said, that he had talked to some leaders of European institutions, who would be willing to see Tymoshenko in Brussels. "I believe she should have such an opportunity. If she has a desire to go, then she shouldn't be denied the right to move with no restrictions," highlighted the Ukrainian leader.
Suffice it to say, that the investigator at the Prosecutor General's Office did not grant the request of Yulia Tymoshenko to allow her to travel outside Ukraine based on sanctions against her - the recognizance not to leave.
Tymoshenko is accused of misappropriation of hundreds of millions of dollars received by Ukraine under the Kyoto Protocol, which should have been invested into environmental programs.
In addition, Yulia Tymoshenko is charged with embezzlement of state funds while procuring ambulances at inflated prices.
Earlier, an international audit of Tymoshenko's government has revealed numerous financial irregularities including failure to follow proper tender procedures while making state procurements.
Ukraine President Promises $4.4 billion For Euro 2012
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Thursday promised some $6.1 billion dollars in government and private funds would be spent on preparations for the Euro 2012 football championship by January.
Euro 2012 is not just a wonderful sports event, it is jobs and our GDP,' Yanukovych said, speaking at a meeting with government officials in the southern city Odessa.
The Ukrainian government has budgeted some $1.2 billion dollars towards preparation for the championship to be spent by the end of 2011, and private industry is likely to contribute another $3.2 billion dollars in investment credits over the same period, he said.
The money would go towards improving airports, roads, railroad, and developing hotel infrastructure, he said.
Opposition politicians have criticized the Yanukokych administration for allegedly spending too lavishly on getting ready for Euro 2012, and for planning to slash pensions and raise taxes to help pay to co-host the championship.
The UEFA in 2007 named Poland and Ukraine co-hosts for Euro 2012.
Ukraine's preparation effort thus far has been mixed with delays in stadium construction, transportation infrastructure overhaul, and hotel development the worst headaches.
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, Yanukovych's top lieutenant, on Monday said work to get ready for Euro 2012 would be 'practically complete' by the end of 2011, according to an Interfax report.
Euro 2012 is not just a wonderful sports event, it is jobs and our GDP,' Yanukovych said, speaking at a meeting with government officials in the southern city Odessa.
The Ukrainian government has budgeted some $1.2 billion dollars towards preparation for the championship to be spent by the end of 2011, and private industry is likely to contribute another $3.2 billion dollars in investment credits over the same period, he said.
The money would go towards improving airports, roads, railroad, and developing hotel infrastructure, he said.
Opposition politicians have criticized the Yanukokych administration for allegedly spending too lavishly on getting ready for Euro 2012, and for planning to slash pensions and raise taxes to help pay to co-host the championship.
The UEFA in 2007 named Poland and Ukraine co-hosts for Euro 2012.
Ukraine's preparation effort thus far has been mixed with delays in stadium construction, transportation infrastructure overhaul, and hotel development the worst headaches.
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, Yanukovych's top lieutenant, on Monday said work to get ready for Euro 2012 would be 'practically complete' by the end of 2011, according to an Interfax report.
Rasmussen Plans To Discuss Ukraine's Participation In NATO Missile Defense System
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said that during his visit to Ukraine, he plans to discuss Ukraine's possible participation in the NATO missile defense system.
"What I would like to discuss during my visit to Ukraine is the question of Ukraine's possible contribution to the Euro-Atlantic architecture of a missile defense system," he told Ukrainian reporters in Brussels on Thursday.
He said that the decision to create such a system had been made relatively recently.
"We have not yet completed the final design of the architecture, [and] we are at the initial stage of this process. Only two or three months have passed after NATO decided to develop a system on the basis of NATO," he said.
Rasmussen recalled that Russia had been invited to cooperate in this project at the alliance's summit in Lisbon, Portugal.
"What we've done during the summit is initiate a joint analysis of Russia-NATO relations as to how we can realize this practical cooperation. If other Euro-Atlantic partners offer their participation and their potential to the architecture of the missile defense system, then, of course, we will take this into account. It is too early to give a definitive answer to how this architecture will develop, and this will depend on the contribution of Ukraine and other partners," he said.
As reported, Rasmussen said that he would pay a one-day visit to Ukraine on February 24.
"What I would like to discuss during my visit to Ukraine is the question of Ukraine's possible contribution to the Euro-Atlantic architecture of a missile defense system," he told Ukrainian reporters in Brussels on Thursday.
He said that the decision to create such a system had been made relatively recently.
"We have not yet completed the final design of the architecture, [and] we are at the initial stage of this process. Only two or three months have passed after NATO decided to develop a system on the basis of NATO," he said.
Rasmussen recalled that Russia had been invited to cooperate in this project at the alliance's summit in Lisbon, Portugal.
"What we've done during the summit is initiate a joint analysis of Russia-NATO relations as to how we can realize this practical cooperation. If other Euro-Atlantic partners offer their participation and their potential to the architecture of the missile defense system, then, of course, we will take this into account. It is too early to give a definitive answer to how this architecture will develop, and this will depend on the contribution of Ukraine and other partners," he said.
As reported, Rasmussen said that he would pay a one-day visit to Ukraine on February 24.
Saturday, 12 February 2011
Israel, Ukraine Cancel Visa Requirements
TEL AVIV, Israel -- Tourism Ministry says deal between two countries will increase number of Ukrainian visitors by 40%.
Israelis traveling to the Ukraine no longer need an entry visa, and Ukrainians do not need a visa to enter Israel, following an agreement signed between the two nations.
The Ministry of Tourism estimates that the development will raise the number of Ukrainians traveling to Israel by 40% compared to last year.
Up to 140,000 tourists are expected to come from the Eastern European coutry in 2011, contributing an estimated $100 million to the Israeli economy.
In 2010, 292,000 passengers boarded flights on the Israel-Ukraine line, a 24% increase compared with2009. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians also made day trips into Israel, crossing over the Egyptian border or taking charter flights from Antalya, Turkey.
The price of a visa to Ukraine was anywhere between NIS 150 ($41) and NIS 4,650 ($1,265), depending on the type.
Currently, 31 weekly flights transport passengers between the two nations, 16 of them operated by Aerosvit Airlines and six by El Al.
Arkia is expected to launch two additional weekly flights in the coming months.
Israelis in Ukraine
Kiev, which lies on the banks of the Dnieper River, is abundant in attractions such as churches, museums, parks and Jewish sites.
The ancient Kiev Monastery of the Caves is a major tourist attraction, as it the Lover's Bridge in Kreshchatik Park, the perfect setting for a marriage proposal.
Another popular site is Mariinsky Park, where statues and fountains are plentiful. On the outskirts of Kiev is Babi Yar, the ravine where tens of thousands of Jews were massacred by Nazis in 1941.
According to Aerosvit Israel General Manager Avi Schwartz, approximately 100,000 Israelis traveled to Ukraine last year.
Some 40,000 of them were Breslov followers, who went to Uman to visit Rebbe Nachman of Breslov's tomb, while others went to visit families, took vacations or made business trips.
"The cancelation of visas will multiply the number of tourists traveling from Israel to Ukraine," Schwartz said.
"The high price of visas deterred many people who wanted to visit Ukraine but did not want to pay hundreds of shekels for an entry visa."
Schwartz also mentioned that Ukraine is preparing to receive an increased number of visitors because it was chosen to host the Euro soccer championships in 2012.
He noted that that the competition between airlines is driving flight prices down.
Israelis traveling to the Ukraine no longer need an entry visa, and Ukrainians do not need a visa to enter Israel, following an agreement signed between the two nations.
The Ministry of Tourism estimates that the development will raise the number of Ukrainians traveling to Israel by 40% compared to last year.
Up to 140,000 tourists are expected to come from the Eastern European coutry in 2011, contributing an estimated $100 million to the Israeli economy.
In 2010, 292,000 passengers boarded flights on the Israel-Ukraine line, a 24% increase compared with2009. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians also made day trips into Israel, crossing over the Egyptian border or taking charter flights from Antalya, Turkey.
The price of a visa to Ukraine was anywhere between NIS 150 ($41) and NIS 4,650 ($1,265), depending on the type.
Currently, 31 weekly flights transport passengers between the two nations, 16 of them operated by Aerosvit Airlines and six by El Al.
Arkia is expected to launch two additional weekly flights in the coming months.
Israelis in Ukraine
Kiev, which lies on the banks of the Dnieper River, is abundant in attractions such as churches, museums, parks and Jewish sites.
The ancient Kiev Monastery of the Caves is a major tourist attraction, as it the Lover's Bridge in Kreshchatik Park, the perfect setting for a marriage proposal.
Another popular site is Mariinsky Park, where statues and fountains are plentiful. On the outskirts of Kiev is Babi Yar, the ravine where tens of thousands of Jews were massacred by Nazis in 1941.
According to Aerosvit Israel General Manager Avi Schwartz, approximately 100,000 Israelis traveled to Ukraine last year.
Some 40,000 of them were Breslov followers, who went to Uman to visit Rebbe Nachman of Breslov's tomb, while others went to visit families, took vacations or made business trips.
"The cancelation of visas will multiply the number of tourists traveling from Israel to Ukraine," Schwartz said.
"The high price of visas deterred many people who wanted to visit Ukraine but did not want to pay hundreds of shekels for an entry visa."
Schwartz also mentioned that Ukraine is preparing to receive an increased number of visitors because it was chosen to host the Euro soccer championships in 2012.
He noted that that the competition between airlines is driving flight prices down.
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