On October 21, 2009 a business forum with the participation of Greek delegation was held in Odessa. The event was initiated by the Greek Organization of External Trade and Consulate General of the Hellenic Republic in Odessa. The forum was coordinated by Mr. Aleksandros Ikonomu, Head of the Economic and Commerce Department of Consulate General.

Mr. Yerasimos Davaris Consul General of the Hellenic Republic in Odessa, Mr. Maksim Svoboda, Head of the Economic, Investment Policy and International Activities Department of Odessa City Council, Mr. Ioannis Verginis, Vice-President of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Anatoliy Denisenko, Vice-President of Odessa CCI and Mrs. Viktoriya Ostroumova, President of the Kherson CCI participated in the opening ceremony of the business forum.

The official part was finished by signing the Cooperation Agreement between the Kherson Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Then the individual bilateral negotiations between Ukrainian and Greek entrepreneurs started.

Greek companies represented the following business spheres:

• fresh and canned fruits and olives, traditional Greek cheeses production;
• hand-made chocolate;
• sanitary equipment, electric heaters;
• fruit-, olive-, palm- and conifer garden plants (trees and bushes);
• fresh cooled fish sales;
• medical and laboratory equipment, diagnostic reagents, devices of immune electrophoresis etc.

This was the first time when Kherson Region representatives participated in business negotiations with Greek enterprises. With this aim the Kherson CCI formed a delegation made up of directors and experts of regional enterprises working in the spheres mentioned: TEST, Private enterprise (medical and laboratory equipment), Private entrepreneur Grigoryeva (fish sales), Private entrepreneur Goridova and DREAM GARDEN, Private Enterprise (green plants and landscape design), MEPS, Private enterprise, ANTORUS JSC, NAVIGATOR-AGRO Ltd., ALF Supermarket among them.

In measures of the business negotiations held, the Kherson businessmen had a perfect opportunity to get acquainted in detail with products and conditions proposed by Greek enterprises, to develop new contacts becoming partner ties in future.

According to Mr. Aleksandros Ikonomu, such events make the extremely important steps towards activation of Ukrainian and Greek bilateral trade cooperation. Participation of the Kherson businessmen in such events is surely a great achievement of cooperation between the Kherson CCI, the Economic and Commerce Department of Consulate General in Odessa and Greek Organization of External Trade.

Mrs. Viktoriya Ostroumova and Mr. Aleksandros Ikonomu discussed further possible directions of cooperation establishment aiming at business-, social- and cultural ties between Kherson Region and Hellenic Republic regions development.