The working visit through the western regions continued with the visit to Chernivtsi.

On April 12, together with the Ambassador of Israel, Mr. Eliav Belotserkovski, I met with the Acting Head of Chernivtsi Regional State Administration, Ruslan Senchuk. Just as elsewhere, we discussed the possible areas for cooperation between Ukraine and Israel, of which at the moment the most promising is tourism (including medical, green), ways to support joint cultural and educational projects, economic cooperation.

Bukovyna is one of those regions, which does not need to prove the advantages of cooperation with Israel. For centuries Chernivtsi was the most Jewish city among others. Therefore, due to the historical traditions, Chernivtsi region is a very promising area for bilateral cooperation with Israel.

According to Mr. Belotserkovski "Bukovyna is a special place for Israel, because there lived many Jewish families, a significant number of them were killed during the Holocaust. However, in Israel there are many immigrants from Ukraine and, in particular, from Bukovyna, for whom it would be interesting to learn about the culture of the Chernivtsi region and go back to native land. Israel is ready to share its experience with Ukraine, a country that is developing dynamically."

One of the topics of our conversation with the authority of the region was the implementation of the city’s Security system in the region and, especially, in Chernivtsi. According to the Chernivtsi Mayor, Oleksii Kaspruk, "the issue of security is at the highest level in Israel, so, we are very interested in this experience, regarding the circumstances in which Ukraine is now living."

We focused separately on the problem of investing in the region. I believe that today it is extremely important to demonstrate the Israeli investors that Bukovyna will strongly support the development of business projects in the area to restore their trust. So, there was agreed about the visit of delegation of Israeli journalists and tourist business representatives, which will be held in the nearest future. There will be a promo tour through Chernivtsi region to show all its tourist attractions and to enable the Ukrainian and Israeli entrepreneurs to develop joint projects.

In addition, the citizens of Chernivtsi are very interested in Israel's experience in the field of energy savings and alternative energy. Such projects could be another area for joint cooperation.

I am sure that having such strong and even "family" ties with the community of the region and with the support of the authority, we can establish the close cooperation between Israel and Ukraine. Chernivtsi region is one of the most promising in this regard.