"The forum is aimed at expanding and deepening contacts between Croatian and Ukrainian businessmen", said Vidosevic and Olexandra Bladzevich, vice president of the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
The two countries' trade last year amounted to 113.6 million dollars and only one fourth of that amount was Croatia's exports to Ukraine, Vidosevic said, adding that the existing visa regime was an obstacle to a better economic cooperation and an increased number of Ukrainian tourists in Croatia. He stressed that the Croatian Chamber of the Economy has been insisting on the liberalisation of the visa regime for years.
This issue was also addressed by the two countries' heads of state, Stjepan Mesic of Croatia and Victor Yuschenko of Ukraine, who met yesterday. The two presidents were scheduled to attend the forum, but Yuschenko, who was on an official visit to Croatia, had to return to Kiev urgently due to the escalation of a political crisis which has been shaking Ukraine for the past two months.
Vidosevic and Bladzevich signed an agreement on cooperation between the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and the Croatian Chamber of the Economy.