The representative office of the European Union in Ukraine will hold a conference in Simferopol and Sevastopol on May 20, where a new program – the «EU joint cooperation initiative in Crimea» – will be presented, INTERFAX-UKRAINE said. 
According to this program, the EU will invest about EUR 12 million in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea by the end of 2010.
The EU joint cooperation initiative is the project of the EU and some member states of the EU that plan to cooperate at various levels.
Participants in the program are EU members Estonia, Finland, France, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The EU, as part of this initiative, will assist in creating a regional development agency of Ukraine, developing social infrastructure, raising Crimea’s potential as a tourist region and strengthening Crimea’s abilities to attract direct foreign investment.
It is planned that the participants in the conference will be Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Ukraine Jose Manuel Pintu Teixeira, Chairman of the Crimean Council of Ministers Vasyl Dzharty, Chairman of the Crimean Supreme Council Volodymyr Konstantinov, permanent presidential envoy to Crimea Serhiy Kunitsyn, Chairman of Sevastopol City State Administration Valeriy Saratov, Chairman of Sevastopol City Council Yuriy Doinikov, as well as ambassadors of member states of the European Union and ministers of the Crimean Council of Ministers.