Prime Ministers Of Russia And Ukraine Satisfied With Ratification Of Gas Agreements

The Prime Ministers of Russia and Ukraine expressed their satisfaction with the ratification of the agreements on natural gas by the Ukrainian parliament. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov's press secretary, Tatyana Razbash, told this information to reporters, commenting on the results of Kasyanov's meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Anatoly Kinakh. Preparations for a meeting of the bilateral intergovernmental commission to be held in Moscow on December 3-4 were also discussed at the negotiations. At that meeting it is planned to discuss a wide range of trade and economic problems, including cooperation in the fuel and energy industries, the trade policies, the military technical cooperation and problems of the Black Sea Fleet operations and supplies to it. It was pointed out during today's meeting that cooperation in the cultural sphere has reached a new level, which is highly important for the development of cooperation between the two countries in general. In this connection the parties remarked with satisfaction on the fact that the year 2002 had been declared the Year of Ukraine in Russia.