Ukraine and Cyprus have signed a number of bilateral documents as part of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's official visit to Cyprus, the presidential press service has reported.

In the presence of the leaders of the two countries, the sides signed an intergovernmental agreement on maritime commercial shipping, an intergovernmental agreement on air services, an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the field of health and medical science, a memorandum of understanding in agriculture, an agreement on cooperation in physical education and sports, a memorandum of understanding on investment cooperation, and a memorandum of understanding between Donetsk National Technical University (DNTU) and the Cyprus Institute.

The intergovernmental agreement on maritime commercial shipping will help revitalize economic and trade cooperation. In particular, the vessels of the contracting parties in ports and territorial waters will be treated in the same way as their own vessels in terms of the collection of port fees and taxes, access to ports, the use of services of ports, the loading and unloading of cargo, and embarking or disembarking.

An intergovernmental agreement on air services, which will replace the agreement between the governments of Ukraine and Cyprus on air services of February 21, 2000, will improve the bilateral legal framework for cooperation in the field of air transportation. The agreement will help increase the number of airlines chosen to operate on the agreed routes, improve the mechanism of the regulation of international flights during the operation of the agreed routes between Ukraine and Cyprus, move from the procedure for the approval of tariffs to the procedure for their monitoring, introduce the mechanism for inspecting airlines to assess their compliance with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization, and enable airlines to sign commercial agreements on transportation with the general use of codes, etc.

An intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the field of health and medical science seeks to enhance and extend intergovernmental cooperation in health care. In particular, it will contribute to the development of cooperation in certain priority areas, and help coordinate policies in health care. Cooperation will be implemented through the exchange of experience and specialists for the purpose of training and consultations, the holding of courses and seminars.

A memorandum of understanding in the field of agriculture between the Ukrainian Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry and the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment of Cyprus foresees cooperation in the following areas: the exchange of scientific and technical information, documentation, and product samples, interns, delegations of scientists and experts; the drafting of joint programs for agricultural research in areas of mutual interest, and joint plans for the prevention and control of disease.

An agreement between the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sport of Ukraine and the Cyprus Sports Organization on cooperation in physical education and sports will govern Ukraine-Cyprus relations through cooperation between government agencies responsible for the development and implementation of sports policy in Ukraine and Cyprus, as well as non-governmental sports organizations, clubs and federations of different sports.

A memorandum of understanding on investment cooperation between the State Agency for Investment and National Projects of Ukraine and the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency will facilitate the exchange of experience in the attraction of investment and support for investors.

A memorandum of understanding between Donetsk National Technical University (DNTU) and the Cyprus Institute will facilitate the implementation of joint research projects in environment, energy, the use of high-performance computers in the basic and engineering sciences, information technology, archeology and cultural heritage studies.

This cooperation will envisage the exchange of students, professors, researchers and other employees, as well as the joint organization of courses, seminars and workshops, exchange of information, documentation, publications and research results.