Of all the member countries of the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Iran seems to have the closest ties
with Ukraine. This assessment is based on the exchange of high-level visits
and the growing volume of trade and economic exchanges. Agreements include
bilateral trade and healthcare agreements and an anti-drug trafficking
memorandum and discussed further development of projects in the aviation and
energy sectors, including future transfer of Iranian gas to Europe and
Ukraine’s assistance in developing Iran’s nuclear power capacity.
The economy of Ukraine is based on the
philosophy of import and export. In 2001 it succeeded in importing $10 billion
of goods against an export of $11.5 billion. Today’s free and independent
Ukraine was once one of the former Soviet Union’s most important economic
components. It also enjoys geographical significance, as this land-locked
state of 50 million is located at the heart of Europe, being in essence at its
very center.
Most of the Soviet military and aerospace
industries were located in Ukraine, so the large number of world-class
scientific, technical and research experts should come as no surprise. The
Aviation Institute of Antenov –which is cooperating with Iran in the
construction of the ‘Iran-140’ airplane– is being run by these very experts.
