NEW YORK, June 22 – Head of Odessa Regional Administration Mikheil Saakashvili has pointed at out the good potential position of Odessa City as a regional transport, logistic, tourist and IT hub in the Black Sea region, and said he plans to realize this potential.

Odessa has many advantages, in particular, well-educated and talented people, and stunning tourist potential, he said.

"We would provide investors with protection from extortion and blackmail, which have been hindering economic growth so far," he said at the Ukrainian Investment Day conference organized by Concorde Capital Investment Company in New York on June 19.