In the framework of the working visit to Ukraine, President of Latvia Andris Bērziņš has visited Odesa 15 March.

During the visit of the President of Latvia familiarized with the potential of the Illichivsk Sea Port and infrastructure of the Odesa Commercial Sea Port. In addition, in the framework of the visit, a meeting of the Ukrainian and Latvian business structures and the signing of the memorandum between OCSP and Ventspils Free Port were held. Also Andris Bērziņš had the meeting with Odesa City Mayor Oleksiy Kostusev.

President of Latvia Andris Bērziņš has stated that one of the purposes of his visit to Odesa is the development and the popularization of the route of the container train ZUBR.

“One of the purposes of the visit Odesa is the development of the railway link ZUBR (Baltic Sea ― Black Sea). It concerns not only Latvia and Ukraine, but Baltic States, Scandinavia, and especially the countries around the Baltic and Black Seas, with the ability to spread it further... We should be more active with the countries of the so-called Eastern Partnership and Central Asian countries”, he noted.

“Also as part of the visit it was signed a lot of different types of documents. 14 March in Kyiv four documents were signed, and the agreement between the Odesa port and Ventspils port was signed in Odesa. Our delegation consisting of the representatives of many sectors of the country, more than 40 companies and 5 ministers, signed a lot of individual contracts. I do not know the exact number of signed contracts, but, for example, the rector of the Riga Technical University signed three contracts. We started together and then worked individually, it concerns all organizations arrived in the delegation”, he added.

The press service of the Odesa Sea Port also noted that in the presence of Mr Andris Bērziņš, the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Volodymyr Kozak, Minister of Transport of Latvia Anrijs Matīss, Odesa region governor Eduard Matviychuk, a Memorandum-Agreement on cooperation between the SE “Odesa Commercial Sea Port” and the Free port of Ventspils was signed.

The document, in particular, provides for the strengthening of mutual understanding and friendly relations between the parties, mutually beneficial development of the port business, assistance of the increase in turnover of the two transport companies, mutual development and popularization of logistics route of the container train ZUBR (Tallinn ― Riga ― Minsk ― Odesa / Illichivsk) and etc.