UKRAINE is keen to share its expertise in aerospace and aircraft engineering with Malaysia, said Ukrainian Ambassador Olexander Nechytaylo.

He said sharing expertise is not just in terms of educating students, but also transferring technology to help Malaysia develop the aerospace industry.

“Ukraine has expertise in aerospace and aircraft engineering, and we can help Malaysia develop its aerospace industry,” he told Bernama in a recent interview.

Nechytaylo said Ukraine has years of experience in aircraft engineering, and the nation’s Igor Sikorsky, a Russian-American, invented the helicopter.

Sikorsky created the first successful helicopter in 1939, and was credited with many other accomplishments in the field of aircraft design.

Nechytaylo said the world’s largest aircraft, Antonov An-225 Mriya, which landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in April, is an example of Ukraine’s “leadership” in aerospace and aircraft building.

The aircraft landed at KLIA on its first commercial flight to Malaysia after undergoing upgrades for more than a year. The cargo plane had landed in Malaysia twice, in 2007 and 2016, as a commercial freight transporter.

Malaysia was the aircraft’s third stop after Leipzig, Germany, and Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Nechytaylo said other potential areas of collaboration between Ukraine and Malaysia are education, cultural exchange, tourism and trade.

“Tourism is a great potential. Last year, more than 13,000 Ukrainians visited Malaysia, or about 1,000 tourists per month. It is a good number, given that Ukraine is not close, and there are no direct flights. Now, my task is to spark the interest of Malaysians to visit Ukraine.”

He said the embassy is in talks with Malaysian travel and tour agencies, and is hopeful of starting Ukrainian tour packages next year.

“There is not much understanding as to where exactly Ukraine is located. Often, people think that the country is near Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan. In fact, Ukraine is the geographical centre of Europe.

“The capital, Kiev, is an hour’s flight from Austria’s Vienna, three hours from London and two hours from Amsterdam. On the Asian part, Kiev to Kazakhstan is a four-hour flight.”

Ukraine borders Russia, Belarus, Poland and Slovakia, as well as Hungary, Romania and Moldova to the south-west.

On bilateral trade, Nechytaylo said it has been growing for the past two years, and there is potential to expand, given this year’s efforts to bring Ukrainian fruits and vegetables into the Malaysian market.

“Ukraine remains one of the major consumers of Malaysian palm oil. We are not full members of the European Union, therefore, the European Commission directive on palm oil does not affect Ukraine. We remain committed to importing this important commodity from Malaysia.”

He said Ukraine imported more than 130,000 tonnes of palm oil in the first eight months of the year, an increase of 10% from the corresponding period last year, and the highest on record for the eastern European nation. – Bernama, October 19, 2018.