Ukraine's expo in Russia

Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine have sent a message of greetings to the guests and participants of the expo, "2002: Ukraine's Year In The Russian Federation" which opened Wednesday in the Moscow-based all-Russia exhibition centre.

In this message, Vladimir Putin pointed to the deep historical roots and age-old relationships between the Russian and Ukrainian people as a basis for bilateral cooperation which has gained wide public support today. Ukraine's national exhibition is one more opportunity for boosting economic, social and political contacts, said Putin.

The Russian president believes that the show will become another step toward building up Russian-Ukrainian cooperation in the investment sphere, power engineering, high technologies in transport and other spheres.

For his part, Ukraine's Leonid Kuchma has expressed conviction that the current exhibition will result in concluding Russian-Ukrainian treaties and agreements.

Russia's Vice-Premier Viktor Khristenko has underlined that the Russian and Ukrainian heads are devoting an increasing share of their talks to mutual economic interests.

Ukraine's Vice-Premier Vladimir Seminozhenko said the exhibition would add up to mutual exchanges in science, technology, culture and other spheres.

More than 350 Ukrainian companies and organizations of different forms of property are represented at the exhibition.