Ukraine is alarmed at the quality of fish imported from Vietnam and cases of the non-observation of quality and safety requirements, First Deputy Agricultural Policy and Food Minister of Ukraine Ivan Bisiuk has said.

According to a press release of the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry, Bisiuk informed Vietnamese Ambassador to Ukraine Ho Dac Minh Nguyet of this at a meeting in Kyiv on Thursday.

Ukraine said fish supplied from Vietnam is in great demand on the market. However, last year the State Veterinary and Biosecurity Service of Ukraine found 12 cases of the non-observation of quality and safety requirements in Vietnamese fish and seafood. Ukraine banned imports of products made by two Vietnamese companies.

The report says that at the initiative of Agricultural Policy and Food Minister of Ukraine Mykola Prysiazhniuk a working group has been created. The group will visit Vietnam in March to study the problematic issuers and resolve them.

Bisiuk also said that Ukraine is interested in expanding its trade with Vietnam. In particular, this concerns supplies of Ukrainian grain crops, sugar, sunflower oil, meat and dairy products to the Vietnamese market.

According to the ministry's information, in 2012 goods turnover with agricultural products between Ukraine and Vietnam came to $98.9 million, which is $30.3 million up on 2011.