USTDA awards grant for air cargo hub in Ukraine

U.S. Embassy

KYIV - The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has awarded a $408,121 grant to Antonov Aeronautical Scientific/Technical Complex for the development of an air cargo hub at Gostomel (Antonov) Airport, outside of Kyiv.

U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Carlos Pascual, and the general director of the Antonov Aeronautical Scientific/Technical Complex, Volodymyr Korol, signed the grant agreement on behalf of the U.S. and Ukrainian governments at a ceremony on June 26 at the U.S. Embassy.

The USTDA-funded study will examine the possibility of the airport becoming a major air cargo hub in Eastern Europe. It will focus on modernizing the airport's shipping capabilities and will include a design for computer logistics technology that will allow for more efficient cargo processing. The air cargo hub will both operate in cooperation with major air cargo airports worldwide and will be a major distribution and consolidation facility for Eastern Europe.

Solid Team, LLC, of Claremont, Calif., will be the U.S. contractor that will perform the study, which is part of an overall redevelopment plan for the airport.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency advances economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries. The agency funds various forms of technical assistance, feasibility studies, training, orientation visits and business workshops that support the development of a modern infrastructure and a fair and open trading environment.

The USTDA's strategic use of foreign assistance funds to support sound investment policy and decision-making in host countries creates an enabling environment for trade, investment and sustainable economic development. In carrying out its mission, the USTDA gives emphasis to economic sectors that may benefit from U.S. exports of goods and services.

Since 1992 the USTDA has allocated nearly $10 million to Ukraine, of which almost $9 million were in grants for feasibility studies. Such studies are the first step needed for the implementation of many investment projects.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 17, 2003, No. 33, Vol. LXXI

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