Press release

First official visit of the new EUROCONTROL Director General: Mr Medina visits Kyiv, confirms Agency support to Ukraine

19 January 2023

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Mr Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine, Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development and Mr Raúl Medina, Director General of EUROCONTROL

Raúl Medina, the new Director General of EUROCONTROL, has confirmed the Agency’s full commitment to supporting its Member State, Ukraine in a visit to the capital Kyiv where he met the Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine, Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, Mr Oleksandr Kubrakov as well as a number of other senior figures in the Ukrainian aviation sector.

“EUROCONTROL, in a close collaboration with the European Commission, has established the European ATM Voluntary Solidarity Fund which aims to support Ukraine and the Ukrainian aviation sector to ensure operational readiness when air traffic recovers. I was honoured to meet with Minister Kubrakov to express our solidarity in person and explain to him how this fund which was set up by the 41 EUROCONTROL Member States will be able to benefit Ukraine in the future.”

Raúl Medina Director General, EUROCONTROL

Mr Oleksandr Bilchuk, Chairman of the State Aviation Administration of Ukraine (SAAU), Mr Oleksandr Kubrakov; Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine, Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development; Mr Raúl Medina, Director General of EUROCONTROL, Mr Andriy Yarmak, CEO of the Ukrainian Air Navigation Service Provider (UkSATSE); Mr Predrag Vranjkovic, Advisor to the Director General of EUROCONTROL and Mr Dmytro Babeichuk, EUROCONTROL

From left to right: Raúl Medina, Director General of EUROCONTROL; Mr Oleksandr Bilchuk, Chairman of the State Aviation Administration of Ukraine (SAAU); Mr Yuriy Kysil, Chairman of the Transportation Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament

From left to right: Mr Raúl Medina, Director General of EUROCONTROL; Mr Oleksandr Bilchuk, Chairman of the State Aviation Administration of Ukraine (SAAU); Mr Yuriy Kysil, Chairman of the Transportation Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament

During the visit, Mr Medina also met with Mr Oleksandr Bilchuk, the Chairman of the State Aviation Administration of Ukraine (SAAU), Mr Andriy Yarmak, CEO of the Ukrainian Air Navigation Service Provider (UkSATSE), and Mr Yuriy Kysil, the Chairman of the Transportation Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament. These meetings were an opportunity to explore in more technical detail how to enhance collaboration between Ukraine and the European aviation community as well as with EUROCONTROL.

Mr Medina also visited the Antonov aerodrome Hostomel which was devastated during the Russian aggression. Mr Yevhen Havrylov, the Acting Director General of Antonov, met with Mr Medina at the site of the destruction of the Antonov 225 Mriya aircraft which occurred during the first days of the Russian aggression.

Raúl Medina added:

“It was very important to me and was indeed a commitment that I made last year that my first official visit as DG of EUROCONTROL would be to Ukraine. Having seen with my own eyes the devastation that this brutal invasion has caused, I am even more committed to standing firm with our Member State, Ukraine and ensuring all necessary tools and funding are in place to support Ukrainian aviation.”

During his visit, Mr Medina also expressed the Agency’s condolences to the family and loved ones of the victims of the helicopter crash on 18 January 2023.

Email: [email protected]
For more information via the website: www.eurocontrol.int

Note to editors

EUROCONTROL:
EUROCONTROL is a pan-European, civil-military organisation dedicated to supporting European aviation. As Europe’s Network Manager, we play a central coordination role, using our technical expertise to support Member States and a wide range of stakeholders (air navigation service providers, civil and military airspace users, airports and aircraft/equipment manufacturers). We strive to make European aviation safe, efficient, scalable, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable, partnering with the European Union to make the Single European Sky a reality.