Ukraine to become Associate Member State of CERN

Geneva 3 October 2013. CERN Director General Rolf Heuer and Mr. Kostyantyn Ivanovych Gryschenko, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine today signed a document admitting Ukraine to CERN Associate Membership, subject to ratification by Ukraine's Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. "Ukraine has been a strong participant in LHC experiments and computing over recent years," said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer. "Welcoming a new member of a family is always an emotional moment and I'm really delighted to see Ukraine on the way to Associate Membership." "Signing the CERN Associate Membership Agreement became an extremely important stage on the way of Ukraine's European integration" , said Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Mr. Kostyantyn Gryshchenko. "The full involvement in the advanced European scientific projects and research conducted in CERN was set as a main priority in the field of international science and technology cooperation". Ukraine and CERN signed a Co-operation Agreement in 1993, and a Joint Declaration in 2011, setting priorities in scientific-technical cooperation. In reality, Ukraine's relationship with CERN dates back much further, principally through CERN's cooperation with the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia, of which Ukraine is a member.