KIEV - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said Monday that freeing up the visa regime and greater energy cooperation between Ukraine and Turkey would figure high on the agenda for his visit to Turkey, where he was due to arrive later in the day.
"We are ready to seriously review our visa regime, including with Turkey," Yushchenko was quoted as telling Turkish media through his press service Monday.
Yushchenko was due to leave for Turkey later Monday for a three-day trip to Ankara and Istanbul, where he was to meet with his counterpart Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as well as local business leaders.
Ukraine earlier this year withdrew visa requirements for European Union passport holders, and Yushchenko said Kiev was considering similar measures for other countries.
"In parallel, we have to answer the question of security against international terrorism, the narcotics trade and human trafficking," he said. "This is why I am eagerly awaiting discussions with the Turkish side about a reciprocal liberalization of the visa regime."
Cooperation in the energy sector is another priority item in talks between the two countries, which both have large portions of the Black Sea coastline. Ukraine, on the sea's northern coast, hopes to supply electricity exports to energy-hungry Turkey in the south.
"We are ready to present a project for electricity exports," Yushchenko said. Turkey, for its part, could ensure oil and gas transport to Ukraine from "alternative regions," he said. Currently, Ukraine receives most of its oil and gas from Russia and Turkmenistan.
Ukraine is also interested in boosting Turkish investment, which currently funds some 331 businesses in the ex-Soviet republic. The two sides will also discuss cooperating in Iraqi reconstruction projects, Yushchenko said.
Yushchenko and his wife Kateryna were due to spend Monday and Tuesday in Ankara and Wednesday in Istanbul.
06/06/2005 11:06 GMT