Representatives of the embassy of the United States in Kiev and the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine paid a working visit to the TIS Group of Marine Terminals (Yuzhny port, Odessa region) on 7 July. James Lindley, the senior commercial officer at the embassy, and Andy Hunder, the president of the chamber, inspected facilities for handling ore, coal, and containers, the CFTS correspondent reports.

The chamber is developing a program for supporting industrial parks in Ukraine, in connection with which prospects for cooperation with the TIS industrial park – the iPARK – were considered.

The parties discussed the interaction between businesses, lobbyist organizations, and the government in reforming the industry: deregulation, improvement of the efficiency of public investment programs, and the need to improve the operations of customs agencies.

"TIS is interested in cooperating with the relevant business associations with the aim of improving the investment climate in the country," said Andrii Stavnytser, the head of TIS.

The TIS Group of Marine Terminals is located in the Yuzhny port (Odessa region). The group’s cargo turnover was 25.9 million tons in 2014.

The iPARK industrial park, which is unique to Ukraine and the entire Black Sea, is a project for creation of an industrial and logistics cluster in a common customs area with the largest container terminal. More than 500 hectares of land classified as "green meadow" with full site preparation and established communications are located on the territory of the iPARK along with sites on which buildings and facilities with existing infrastructure that require adaptation to specific businesses are already located.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine is a public non-profit business association, one of the main objectives of which is to represent the interests of foreign investors operating in the country and facilitate emergence of new investors.