State Secretary for Food Chain Control Supervision and Agricultural Economy of the Ministry of Rural Development Endre Kardeván attended the AGRO-2012 International Agriculture Fair in Kiev on September 5, which was opened by President of the Ukraine, Viktor Janukoviĉ.

A session of the Agriculture Workgroup of the Hungarian-Ukrainian Inter-Governmental Economic Joint Committee was also organised to coincide with the international fair, chaired by Endre Karedván and Ukrainian Deputy Agriculture Minister, Oleg Szeny. Constructive discussions on bilateral cooperation took place at the session of the join committee, with relation to which concrete results were achieved on several topics.

Discussions regarding two important inter-ministerial agreements were successfully completed, and an agreement was reached on their conclusion at the earliest opportunity. One of these agreements involves cooperation in pest management on coordinated action to combat the spread of plant pests and diseases, while the other concerns the realisation of rabies decontamination programmes for foxes along the countries common borders with the help of EU funding.

Progress was also made in other topics on the Workgroup's agenda, such as land issues and in the field of wine and wine production classification, with the initiation of cooperation at a professional level. The Ukrainian party was very appreciative of the strong relationship present with relation to the training of agrarian professionals and the with relation to the Ukrainian utilisation of Hungarian know-how within the field of agricultural seed production.

State Secretary Endre Kardeván also attended the conference on mid-term Ukrainian agrarian strategy, at which the opening lecture was presented by Ukrainian Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Prysyazhnyuk. During his visit to the Ukraine, the State Secretary held meetings with Mykola Prysyazhnyuk and also with the Director of the Ukrainian State Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Volodimir Gordejev.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)