KIEV, May 19 - Ukrainian businesses are looking forward to new opportunities for development due to the thawing of relations between Russia and Ukraine, however they will pragmatically assess all cooperation projects, according to MP and SCM owner Rinat Akhmetov.

"We're waiting for the possibility to become stronger, to become bigger. What have we seen? – Five years of conflict. They didn't bring dividends to either business or the citizens of Ukraine," he told reporters in Kiev on Tuesday while commenting on a meeting between Ukrainian and Russian businessmen with the participation the two countries' presidents, Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine and Dmitry Medvedev of Russia.