OREANDA-NEWS. June 15, 2012. Prime Minister Mykola Azarov discussed the bilateral cooperation issues with Mr Petras Vaitiekunas, the Ambassador of Lithuania to Ukraine, in Kyiv.

"I'd like to thank you for your participation, for sincere interest of Lithuania concerning Ukraine. You are our friends, support us in various European forums and the EU institutions," said Mykola Azarov.

In particular, parties discussed prospects of cooperation within framework of the Viking project.  In turn, the Ambassador thanked Ukraine for contribution to its implementation.

"I'd like to thank you for joint implementation of transportation projects. There is a real progress regarding the Viking project and our country thank you for your contribution in this project," said Mr Petras Vaitiekunas.

Background. The train of combined transport Viking moves via Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania, and links a chain of marine containers and piggyback lines of the Baltic region with the same system of Black, Mediterranean and Caspian Seas. The total length of the route is over 1,700 kilometers. A Viking train is plying on the route Illichivsk (Ukraine) - Minsk (Belarus) - Klaipeda (Lithuania). It includes 40 platforms with a total weight of containers up to 6,000 tons.