Ukraine, Denmark agree to boost business ties

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and visiting Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen agreed here Tuesday to enhance business ties between the two countries.

During a meeting with Rasmussen, Poroshenko voiced the hope that the Ukrainian-Danish Business Forum, which is taking place in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, will open up new cooperation opportunities for businessmen of the two nations.

"I am confident that it will open the Ukrainian market for Danish investors and establish direct business contacts between our states," he said.

Poroshenko listed energy and agriculture as areas that hold the most potential for cooperation.

For his part, Rasmussen said that 30 Danish companies, who are taking part in the Ukrainian-Danish Business Forum, are interested in investing in Ukraine.

"It opens huge potential for increasing the volume of investments in Ukraine and bilateral trade," Rasmussen said.

In the first half of 2015, the two-way trade between Ukraine and Denmark reached 196 million U.S. dollars, down 30 percent from the same period a year before.

Denmark's investment into the Ukrainian economy stood at 140 million U.S. dollars in the first half of 2015.

About 230 businessmen from the two countries attended the one-day forum.