Commission for selecting Russian-Ukrainian cross-border cooperation projects halts work

Kharkiv Regional Governor Ihor Baluta has signed a decree halting the operation of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration's commission for selection of Russian-Ukrainian cross-border cooperation projects.

This decision was made with regard for the current state of Ukrainian-Russian cooperation, suspension of contacts with the administration of the European region Slobozhanschyna representing Russia's Belgorod region, and the inexpediency of the commission's work before the establishment of constructive bilateral dialogue between Ukraine and Russia, the administration of the region Kharkiv region's city administration said in a document posted on its official website.

The European region Slobozhanschyna comprises the Russian Belgorod region and the Ukrainian Kharkiv region. It was created on November 7, 2003 in Kharkiv by the heads of the executive administrations and local self-government bodies of the two regions as a supreme form of cross-border cooperation for the purpose of harmonizing the interaction between the parties for the implementation of the main socio-economic functions of the regions located close to the border, drawing innovations and investment for the stabilization of economic growth, and intensification of interregional economic cooperation.

The Kharkiv Regional State Administration's commission for selection of Russian-Ukrainian cross-border cooperation projects was created on the orders of the head of the Kharkiv regional administration in August 2005.