Only cooperation with Russia in shipbuilding, and in the aircraft and space industries saves these branches from dying out, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said in an interview with the Ukrainian Profil magazine to be issued on Saturday.
Relations between Russia and Ukraine severely deteriorated during the rule of the country's former pro-Western president Viktor Yuschenko but saw good improvement after Viktor Yanukovych was elected president on February 25, 2010.
The recent rapprochement concerned such spheres as atomic energy, shipbuilding, space and aircraft industries.
"We had no alternative in cooperating with Russia, indeed there was one - reprocessing in the Ukrainian aviation industry [recycling] metal. This concerns both the space industry and shipbuilding," Azarov said.
Neither Airbus nor Boeing, or any other large world aviation company has proposed Ukraine cooperation because they do not need competitors, Azarov continued.
"And what else can we do when we have experienced workers and engineering groundwork?" the premier said, meaning that Ukraine has no choice except to cooperate with Russia.
KIEV, July 9 (RIA Novosti)
