On Wednesday, June 24, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal chaired an extraordinary meeting of the State Commission on technogenic and environmental safety and emergencies, at which a range of urgent measures to remedy the consequences of the natural disaster in the western regions of Ukraine was approved.

The meeting was also attended by Head of the State Emergency Service (SES) Mykola Chechotkin, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Roman Abramovsky, Deputy Director of the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center Anatolii Prokopenko, heads of regional state administrations of affected regions and others.

The meeting participants got acquainted with the situation in the flood-hit settlements and the extent of the damage. According to the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center forecast, the flood situation in the western region should stabilize by the end of this week. Currently, precipitation is gradually decreasing in all regions. However, a significant increase in water in the region's reservoirs, in particular in the Dniester River, is still possible.

On the outcomes of the meeting, a protocol decision was endorsed concerning a set of urgent measures to overcome the consequences of the emergency. These measures encapsulate constant monitoring of the hydrological situation on the rivers of the region in order to take timely precautionary measures, the organization of comprehensive life support of the affected and evacuees; supervision of the sanitary and epidemiological situation to prevent outbreaks of infectious diseases due to water well pollution.

Moreover, by July 1, 2020, an inspection of destroyed and damaged buildings and road infrastructure should be organized to determine the extent of damage and determine amount of funds needed to restore them; the affected population should receive financial assistance from the state.

The Ministry of the Internal Affairs, for its part, must organize the protection of critical infrastructure, buildings and property of evacuees from dangerous areas.

The Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced that tomorrow on June 25, the Government at its extraordinary session will consider the issue of liquidation of consequences of the bad weather."I commission the Ministry of  Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine for tomorrow's extraordinary meeting of the Government together with the heads of regional state administrations to prepare an approximate calculation, what funds should be allocated to eliminate the consequences of the disaster so that the Government can make a decision. As we conduct calculations and develop the design and estimate documentation, we will determine and allocate additional funds if necessary. Tomorrow, this issue should be immediately considered by the Cabinet of Minister," Denys Shmyhal stated.

Apart from that, the Head of Government gave instruction to the SES to foster the efforts to preserve infrastructure, including bridges. "We know what to do and we have a step-by-step plan. First of all, we need to help people, provide them with water, food and housing. We will bring the situation under control and start a complete recovery of infrastructure and housing in the hit regions," Denys Shmyhal underscored.