President Mahinda Rajapaksa left for Ukraine today (29 June) for an official visit on an invitation by the President of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovich. The visit will extend till 3 July. This is the first Head of State visit from Sri Lanka to Ukraine.

President Rajapaksa will hold bilateral discussions with the President of Ukraine, the Prime Minister and other senior Ministers of the Government of Ukraine. Sri Lanka and Ukraine will sign four bilateral cooperation agreements on military technology, security, tourism, navigation and transport during his visit.

President Rajapaksa is scheduled to visit the Parliament of Ukraine and also address the National Defence University of Ukraine.

A Sri Lanka-Ukraine Business Forum has also been organized parallel to the President’s visit which is expected to strengthen cooperation in trade and economic sectors between the two countries. A Sri Lankan Cultural Evening featuring the Sri Lanka Air Force Cultural Troupe will also take place.

The visit is expected to expand bilateral relations between the two countries in Trade and Economy, Tourism and Human Resource Development.

President Rajapaksa will be accompanied among others by the Minister for External Affairs, Prof. G.L. Peiris, Secretary to the President, Lalith Weeratunga and Sri Lanka’s Ambassador accredited to Ukraine, Udayanga Weeratunga.

Ukraine is the second largest country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by the Russian Federation to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south.

From 1923 to 1991 most parts of the country was a constituent republic within the USSR. In 24 August 1991, it gained independence from the Soviet Union. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city. Ukraine is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

President Viktor Yanukovych has been in office since 25 February 2010. He served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002. Subsequently he was Prime Minister of Ukraine from November 21, 2002 to December 31, 2004, under President Leonid Kuchma.

He was an unsuccessful candidate in the controversial 2004 presidential election, ultimately losing to Viktor Yushchenko. Yanukovych continued to lead his party, the Party of Regions, after the 2004 election, and he served as Prime Minister for a second time from August 4, 2006 to December 18, 2007 under President Yushchenko.

In March 2010, Yanukovych transferred the authorities of leading the party to Mykola Azarov.

Yanukovych graduated from the Ukrainian Academy of Foreign Trade as a Master of International Law. Later, Yanukovych was granted the titles of Doctor of Science and Professor in Economics.

Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has been in office since 11 March 2010. Born in December 17, 1947, he graduated from Moscow State University as a geologist and geophysicist in 1971 and then worked at the Tulaugol coal enterprise until 1976. In 2002-2005 Azarov was a first Deputy Premier in the government of then Premier Viktor Yanukovych.

In 2004/2005 Azarov was acting Ukrainian Prime Minister. In March 2006 he was elected to parliament on the Party of Regions list. In August 2006 Azarov was appointed first Deputy Prime Minister again in the Yanukovych government, and in a few months he was appointed Ukraine's Finance Minister, a post he occupied until Yulia Tymoshenko became Premier in late 2007.

 In June 2009, the Party of Regions appointed Azarov head of Yanukovych's presidential campaign headquarters. In March 2010 Azarov, who now leads the Party of Regions, was appointed Prime Minister after President Viktor Yanukovych submitted his candidacy to parliament.