President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi has instructed Minister of Education and Science Serhii Shkarlet to develop a program for revival of Ukraine fleet of research vessels within 10 years, the CFTS portal reports, citing the Babel publication.
"We are waiting for a large-scale program for revival of our country’s fleet of research vessels in the next 5-10 years. We propose setting ourselves such a high bar. It is not easy but very logical. And the bar is 36 scientific research vessels, including 12 ocean-going ice-class vessels," Zelenskyi said at a meeting of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Odesa.
According to him, Ukraine had this number of research vessels in 1991, when it became independent.
The head of state said that Ukraine should build its own vessels or buy them, as it bought the James Clark Ross icebreaker.
The head of state also called on the regions to participate in the development of this program, especially the regions with shipbuilding traditions, the relevant personnel, educational institutions, and production facilities.
As reported previously, Zelenskyi called for the creation of a state-owned airline in April last year. "We must create a modern state-owned airline at the level of Turkish Airlines or Singapore Airlines. The government is ready to allocate money for this precisely so that we can create a state-owned national air carrier. We will build a state-owned airline and place orders with our state-owned Antonov," he said.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in early June 2020 that the government had developed a concept for the future state-owned Ukrainian air carrier.
