DUSHANBE, July 22, 2013, Asia-Plus -- An official visit of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to Tajikistan, scheduled for the first half-year of 2013 was not held for unknown reasons, a well-informed source in the Tajik government told Asia-plus today.

According to him, the visit was scheduled for April but it was not held due to some problems the Ukrainian side had.  The source refrained from giving further details; he just said that those problems were “internal problems of Ukraine.”

“Rumors that the visit was allegedly canceled because of detention of former Tajik Prime Minister Abdumalik Abdullojonov in Ukraine in February and further release of him do not correspondent to the facts,” he added.

According to information posted on the website of the Tajik Embassy in Kyiv, issues related to bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and preparations for Ukrainian president’s official visit to Tajikistan, which is scheduled for the first half-year of 2013, were discussed at a meeting of Tajik Ambassador to Ukraine Shuhrat Sultonov with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych that took place in Kyiv on December 30, 2012.

Meanwhile, the Tajik MFA information department says that the official visit of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to Tajikistan was not scheduled for the report period.