John Herbst on Reverse

The US in all ways supports Ukraine’s projects on transporting Caspian oil to Europe, Ambassador of the United States to Ukraine John Herbst said during his visit to the Pivdenny Oil Terminal (Odesa oblast). As he put it, constructing the terminal was a far-sighted step on Ukraine’s part, which in the final result would allow it to achieve independence in the energy sector and integrate into the European community more rapidly. John Herbst also stated the interest of some American companies (whose names he was not prepared to announce) in using the Ukrainian oil terminal. Simultaneously, the ambassador evaluated the idea of this object’s reverse mode as untimely and not in Ukraine’s national interests. Officially, the American ambassador’s visit to Odesa oblast was connected with the ceremony of handing over a present from the American government to the State Customs Service of Ukraine, a Mobil Vacis container scanning plant. In the words of head of the State Customs Service Mykola Kalensky, the plant makes it possible to reveal hidden cargos in a sea container or trailer with the help of X rayswithin twenty seconds without even opening them. The plant is mounted on a truck, costs $1.5 million, and at present is the only one in the CIS. Ambassador Herbst stressed that this present from the American government is intended to render basic assistance to the Ukrainian side in its fight against international terrorism and illegal transport of weapons of mass destruction. The mobile plant had already been tested at the Illichivsk port where it has worked since September. During all this time American experts trained their Ukrainian colleagues to work with the new device. According to customs representatives, the plant will not only make it possible to increase the efficiency of fighting smuggling but also substantially shorten the terms of conducting customs examination at the border, reports Olena ASTRAKHOVYCH, The Day.