Ukraine and Lithuania intend to resume passenger rail transportation on the Kyiv-Warsaw-Vilnius route, move veterinary and phytosanitary inspections of transit cargo from Ukrainian-Polish border crossings to the port of Klaipeda, and start Ukrainian airlines flying from the country’s airports, Deputy Minister of Community, Territorial and Infrastructure Development Oleksandra Azarkhina wrote on Facebook.
According to her, these issues were discussed at a meeting of the Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Lithuanian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation chaired by Deputy Prime Minister for the Reconstruction of Ukraine and Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov and Minister of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania Aushrine Armonaitė.
“Regarding cooperation in the transport sector, we discussed the main directions of restoring and expanding transport links between Ukraine and Lithuania. Namely: the possibility of resuming passenger transportation by rail and further development of the Kyiv-Warsaw-Vilnius route; bilateral cooperation with the involvement of EU institutions to include Yahodyn-Dorogousk in the Trans-European Transport Network; transfer of veterinary and phytosanitary inspections of transit cargo from Ukrainian-Polish border crossings to the port of Klaipeda; development of new routes for the transportation of goods through Poland, which will increase cargo turnover and expand the range of railroad services.
It is noted that, according to the Lithuanian side, the facilitation of procedural requirements at the Ukrainian-Polish border will allow transporting up to 500 thousand tons of Ukrainian agricultural products per year to the port of Klaipeda. Lithuania also plans to install bogie change terminals for railroad tracks, which will also help increase cargo turnover between the two countries.
In addition to the development of railway communication, the Lithuanian side suggested that Ukrainian airlines consider starting operations in Lithuania and participating in national tenders for strategic destinations.
“We have agreed to deepen cooperation in the aviation sector and hope to resume air travel between Lithuania and Ukraine in the near future,” Azarkhina wrote.
Earlier, Lithuania confirmed the need for the EU to subsidize the transportation of Ukrainian grain through Klaipeda.
KYIV, LITHUANIA, passenger rail transportation, UKRAINE, VILNIUS, WARSAW
US Presidential National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said that US President Joe Biden will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday at the NATO summit in Vilnius.
“The President (Biden-IF-U) will have an opportunity to meet with President Zelensky tomorrow and discuss how the United States her partners are prepared in the long term to help Ukraine defend itself now and beyond,” Sullivan said at a briefing on Tuesday.
The bus operator FlixBus launches two new international trips from Ukraine on the Kyiv-Krakow-Prague and Kyiv-Vilnius routes. The press service of the company said the Kyiv-Vilnius bus departs daily from Kyiv at 19:20 and arrives at Vilnius airport at 08:40, and then at the bus station at 09:05. Departure from Vilnius is at 21:30, then check-in at the airport of the Lithuanian capital, and arrival in Kyiv at 11:50 the next day. The carrier is the Lithuanian company Ollex. The line route is Kyiv-Chernihiv-Vilnius.
“In recent years, Lithuania has become a popular tourist destination for Ukrainians. According to the statistics department of the Republic of Lithuania, 44% more Ukrainians arrived in Lithuania last year than in 2018. This is the highest increase among visitors from all countries. And although today the pandemic is bringing its limitations, in the long term, the growth of tourism from Ukraine to Lithuania will continue. Now you can get to Vilnius simply and at an affordable price by a comfortable bus, and then, by making one change – across the Baltic countries,” the press service said citing FlixBus Director in Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic States Michal Leman.
The report notes that FlixBus launched its network in the Baltic countries, namely Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in early July. The company currently offers daily trips from Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius to more than ten other Baltic cities.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv) from June 15, 2019 will launch direct flights from Odesa to Vilnius (Lithuania).
The press service of the airline reported on Monday that the UIA third-weekly flights will be operated on Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays on modern Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The flight will take one hour and 50 minutes.
UIA offers one-way tickets at the price from UAH 1,530 for Odesa to Vilnius flights, and one-way tickets for Vilnius to Odesa flights at the price from EUR 58 (approximately UAH 1,720 at the current exchange rate).
In general, as reported by UIA, the number of direct weekly UIA regular flights connecting Lithuania and Ukraine will increase from 14 to 17 comparing with the previous year.
Ukraine International Airlines was founded in 1992. The fleet consists of 42 airplanes of different modifications. One of the ultimate beneficiaries of the airline is businessman Ihor Kolomoisky.
Hungary’s low cost airline Wizz Air from October 2018 will service flights from Lviv to Vilnius and Bratislava, and from Kharkiv to Gdansk and Wroclaw. The press service of the airline reported that Ukrainian passenger can book tickets on the airline’s website at the prices starting from UAH 299 for a one-way ticket, taking into account all taxes and duties.
Flights from Lviv to Vilnius will be serviced from October 29 on Mondays and Fridays; from Lviv to Bratislava – from October 30 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Flights from Kharkiv to Gdansk and Wroclaw will be serviced on Wednesdays and Sundays from October 28, 2018.
“We will now service regular flights from the Kharkiv international airport on four Polish routes, and we hope that direct flights to cities such as Wroclaw and Gdansk will open even more opportunities for our passengers: both in the tourism industry and in education, culture, entrepreneurship and others,” Commercial Director for Aviation Activities of the Kharkiv international airport (managed by New Systems AM, a member of the DCH group of businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavsky) Vladyslav Ilyin said.
BRATISLAVA, FLIGHTS, GDANSK, KHARKIV, LVIV, VILNIUS, WIZZ AIR, WROCLAW
