DUSHANBE, September 28, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- Viktor Nikityuk, the newly appointed Ukrainian Ambassador to Tajikistan, presented the copies of his credentials to Mahmoudjon Sobirov, First Deputy Foreign Minister of Tajikistan, on Friday, September 28, the Tajik MFA information department reports.

At the meeting that took place after the copies of credentials presentation ceremony, the sides reportedly exchanged views on state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Ukraine.

Sobirov expressed hope that the ambassador of the friendly country would make a valuable contribution to expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Ukraine, the source said.

By Ukrainian president’s decree Viktor Nikityuk was appointed Ukraine’s Ambassador to Tajikistan on August 30, replacing Vyacheslav Pokhvalskiy, who had been Ukrainian Ambassador to Tajikistan with residence in Tashkent, Uzbekistan since 2007.

An official source at Tajikistan’s Foreign Ministry says the Ukrainian embassy will open in Dushanbe soon.

Diplomatic relations between Tajikistan and Ukraine were established on April 24, 1992.

Tajikistan’s trade representation has functioned in Kyiv since 1999 and Tajikistan’s embassy opened in the Ukrainian capital in December 2010.

An agreement on mutual opening of embassies and cultural centers was reached between Tajikistan and Ukraine during an official visit of Ukraine’s then-President Viktor Yushchenko to Tajikistan in March 2008.