An assembly meeting of the International Chornobyl Cooperation Account was held on April 27 with the participation of the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal.

The participants of the event were IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Roman Abramovskyy, acting Minister of Energy Yurii Vitrenko and others. The President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Odile Renaud-Basso also delivered a video address.

The Prime Minister stressed that overcoming the consequences of the accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant had been a period of intense and fruitful joint work of many national and international teams.

In particular, the Prime Minister noted the significant progress made in the implementation of international projects related to the decommissioning of the Chornobyl NPP and the transformation of the Shelter Facility into an environmentally friendly system.

Thanks to the reliable support and understanding by the international community of global challenges, we have managed to build and put into operation a new safe confinement over the Shelter Facility and the spent nuclear fuel storage facility of the Chernobyl NPP-2. These facilities will reliably protect people and the environment from the negative impact of the accident for 100 years," Denys Shmyhal stressed.

According to the Prime Minister, the commissioning of these facilities is a landmark event in the development of scientific and technological progress not only in Ukraine but in the world as well.

Apart from that, Denys Shmyhal noted that for further cooperation with the international community at the initiative of the Government of Ukraine on November 26, 2020, the EBRD Board of Directors created a new fund - the International Chornobyl Cooperation Account (ICCA).

During the meeting, it was announced that the fund has started its activities. The EBRD also presented the tasks and objectives of the ICCA, in particular the decisions to be taken by the Assembly in the near future.