Japan-Ukraine Relations

• (1) About the Conference
  
  • (a) From April 27 to 28, Parliamentary Vice-Minister Kentaro Sonoura visited Ukraine and attended ‘International Support for Ukraine Conference’ ,which was held on April 28.
  • (b) The Conference had participants from a large number of countries and international organizations: Ukraine(Mr. Petro Poroshenko, President of Ukraine, Mr. Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mr. Volodymyr Groysman, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada), European Union (Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission), United Nations (Mr. Christian Friis Bach, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe), Latvia (Ms. Laimdota Straujuma, Prime Minister of Latvia), Canada (Mr.Chris Alexander, Minister for Citizenship and Immigration Affairs of Canada) and so on . Representatives of each country and organization delivered speeches and had panel discussions about the situation in Ukraine, domestic reforms and support for Ukraine.
• (2) Speech by Parliamentary Vice-Minister Sonoura in “Welcoming Session” (script (PDF))
  Parliamentary Vice-Minister Sonoura delivered a speech in “Welcoming Session” of the conference, towards the International Society, stating Japan’s contribution and policy to improve the situation in Ukraine, including its assistance worth approximately 1.84 billion dollars. Parliamentary Vice-Minister Sonoura also emphasized the importance of implementing domestic reform to Ukraine.

• (1) Parliamentary Vice-Minister Sonoura held bilateral meetings and informal talks with Prime Minister Yatsenyuk, Foreign Minister Klimkin, Financial Minister Jaresko,, and the representatives of the participating countries, discussing the situation in Ukraine and support for Ukraine.
• (2) Parliamentary Vice-Minister Sonoura expressed Prime Minister Abe’s high valuation of Ukraine’s effort to achieve domestic reform to Prime Minister Yatsenyuk. Prime Minister Yatsenyuk expressed his sincere gratitude for Japan’s support for Ukraine.
• (3) Parliamentary Vice-Minister Sonoura and Foreign Minister Klimkin following Foreign Minister’s visit to Japan, agreed to further reinforce bilateral cooperation . Foreign Minister Klimkin expressed his gratitude for Bortnychi Sewage Treatment Plant Modernization Project, the medical assistance and the signing of the Agreement between Japan and Ukraine for the Promotion and Protection of Investment (the Japan-Ukraine Investment Agreement).
• (4) Financial Minister Jaresko was deeply thankful for Japan’s support and explained the current situation of Ukraine’s financial and economic reforms. Mentioning the Japan-Ukraine Investment Agreement, which was signed in February 2015, Parliamentary Vice-Minister Sonoura requested to the swift improvement of the investment environment of Ukraine in order to allow more Japanese companies to advance their business into Ukraine.
• (5) Moreover, Parliamentary Vice-Minister Sonoura held informal talks with Mr. Aivaras Abromavicius, Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine and Ms. Hanna Onyschenko, Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers, discussing topics such as economic relationship between Japan and Ukraine and Japan’s assistance for Police reform, to which Ukraine government attach importance.

　Parliamentary Vice-Minister Sonoura discussed present situation of Ukrainian Economy and reinforcement of Japan-Ukraine economic relationship with representatives of Japanese companies, who are residing in Ukraine.