The President of Ukraine met with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani as part of his official visit to the State of Qatar. Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska were on an official visit to Qatar on April 5, 2021.

The meeting focused on attracting investment from Qatar in the development of infrastructure facilities in Ukraine, including the construction of roads and bridges. The president of Ukraine informed the Emir of the State of Qatar about the implementation of the Large Construction project. The importance of expanding concession projects in Ukrainian ports was also emphasized. In the energy sector, the parties discussed the prospects of building an LNG terminal and diversifying energy sources.

Ukraine considers the State of Qatar as one of its key partners in the Gulf region and has every opportunity to fully ensure Qatar's food security.

We talked about attracting investment in the hotel business, they [Qatari partners] are interested not only in hotels in the capital of Ukraine, but also in two tourism regions: Kherson and Odessa regions.

Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine

For his part, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani stressed the desire and readiness of the Qatari side to further develop the full range of mutually beneficial cooperation with Ukraine.

Despite the international lockdown due to the coronavirus epidemic, bilateral trade has reached almost $150 million, that is twice as much as in 2018. Moreover, Qatar recently carried out a big investment in Ukraine: the concession for the port of Olvia was won by the QTerminals.

Zelensly also said that Qatar is interested in entering the Ukrainian banking market. According to the President, the Ukrainian side has provided some offers and the Qatari partners are considering them. During the visit 15 documents were signed, including two commercial agreements and 13 intergovernmental documents.

We have already signed a memorandum. In the near future, we will sign an important document on food security in the region. The Qatari side is very interested in this. We are interested in supplying liquefied natural gas to Ukraine, as well as involving Qatari specialists in the development of our Black Sea shelf.

Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine

In addition, the sides discussed counteracting the spread of coronavirus and minimizing its negative effects. Zelensky thanked the Emir of the State of Qatar for the humanitarian aid provided to Ukraine in 2020 to combat COVID-19. The parties agreed on further cooperation in this area.

Zelensky invited the Emir of Qatar to visit Ukraine at any time convenient for him.

Source: UkrinForm