Nota: come abbia potuto rimanere ancora aperta la centrale di Cernobil, è un mistero. Vi immaginate i poveracci che ci devono andare a lavorare?

KYIV, Oct 20 - The European Commission's President Romano Prodi is expected to arrive in Ukraine on November 9, said an expert at the Kyiv representative office of the European Commission, Ukrainian News reported.

According to the expert, Prodi will be in Ukraine for two days, during which he plans to meet with senior government officials, including President Leonid Kuchma and Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko, as well as Ukrainian scientists.

According to the expert, the key issues that are to be discussed during the visit are the planned closure of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the prospects for admission of Ukraine into the World Trade Organization.

Among other things, Prodi will discuss the speed of preparation for closure and safe preservation of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. He may also make several proposals aimed at facilitating closure of the power plant by December 15, the date promised by Kyiv, the report said.

Prodi will likely express concern that the process is not as fast as the European Commission would have liked to see and as dictated by logic.

"The situation [involving the planned closure of the Chernobyl power plant] is not very convenient for us or Ukraine," the European Commission expert said.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Ukraine pledged to close the Chernobyl power plant by December 15 during United States President Bill Clinton's visit to Ukraine in June.

However, according to the expert, preparation for closure of the power plant and its safe preservation is proceeding quickly enough.

The issue of admission of Ukraine into the World Trade Organization is expected to be discussed in a more favorable atmosphere, and Prodi will likely offer consultative and technical assistance to the Ukrainian authorities to enable Ukraine to achieve this goal.

The European Commission expert noted that the special status of a country with a market economy, which the European Union granted Ukraine last week, has opened the door into the World Trade Organization wider for Ukraine.

"It is very important to Ukraine in political terms. It was a big step toward admission into the WTO," the European Commission expert said.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Prodi promised to visit Ukraine during a meeting with Kuchma at the Ukrainian-European Union summit in Paris in mid-September.

During the summit, leaders of the European Union promised to finance purchase of organic fuel for Ukraine by December 15, the date of closure of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. They also expressed satisfaction with the economic reforms that, according to them, is bringing Ukraine nearer to the European Union.