The move comes amid outrage about the recent incident in which Minsk forced an EU-registered passenger plane to land in the country with the sole goal of arresting a 26-year old independent journalist.

Georgia was also named one of the priority recipients of the Foreign Military Financing programmes, receiving $25 million.

 Masdar last month won bids to build two solar power plants, each with a capacity of 220 MW, in the central Samarkand and Jizzakh regions.

State-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz appointed Svitlana Zalishchuk, a former journalist, to to head its international affairs team.

Since the new government came to power, it has embarked on an ambitious economic reform plan. And that includes the long-ignored tourism sector.

In the Soviet era, such gritty industries were regarded as sacred pieces of the country’s clunky economy.