Oksana Slyusarenko, Deputy Head of the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine, his representative in the Verkhovna Rada, invited the UAE to participate in the creation in Ukraine of the infrastructure necessary for holding the European Football Championship in the country.
At a meeting in Abu Dhabi with Foreign Minister Sheikh Lyubnaya Al-Qashimi, the 46-year-old Doctor of Economics, who worked as an adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Minister of Economics, expressed her country's interest in creating joint projects in Ukraine in the areas of infrastructure, real estate, tourism and hotel construction. Slyusarenko’s particular interest in sports is caused by the fact that, as the Deputy Minister of Economics, she oversaw the preparation of Ukraine for the final part of the 2012 European Football Championship. For this championship, Ukraine needs to build about 30 stadiums, over 20 training facilities, three hundred hotels, cheap accommodation for football fans, and strengthen the medical services sector.
Sheikh Lubna, in turn, spoke out for attracting Ukrainian capital to the UAE, and supported the development of bilateral ties. WAM did not report whether the emirate minister expressed the country's willingness to help Ukraine in preparing for the championship. The parties agreed to expand bilateral economic ties and trade, the volume of which in 2006 amounted to AED 3.362 billion (over $ 900 million), providing a 20 percent increase for the three years preceding this date.
