Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Svitlana Grynchuk discussed joint projects with Special Representative of the OSCE Chairpersonship, Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine Petr Mareš.

“In fact, the OSCE has been working with us for 15 years – the first joint project in the field of environmental education was launched in 2007. During this time, many environmental initiatives have been implemented, including monitoring the Black Sea and creating geographic information systems for environmental protection. The OSCE is considering the possibility of continuing the existing projects in Ukraine and launching new ones,” said Svitlana Grynchuk.

According to the Minister, it is important to launch the reform of state environmental control. This is one of Ukraine’s key priorities in the process of European integration, as the reform is important for both environmental protection and public health. In the near future, the Government should approve the strategy for reforming state environmental control, after which we will be able to launch the first pilot projects in several regions.

The parties also discussed the problems of documenting environmental damage caused both by the hostilities and by violations of environmental legislation by business entities. This issue involves institutional capacity, human resources, expert assistance, technical resources and laboratory facilities. This is why OSCE assistance is so important for Ukraine. In particular, the OSCE made a significant contribution to the component-by-component study of the consequences of the Kakhovka HPP blow up, which provided a comprehensive picture of the environmental risks. This experience is valuable for the development of environmental monitoring and water supply in the frontline regions, which are priorities for the Government.

Svitlana Grynchuk and Petr Mareš also touched upon the topic of humanitarian demining.

“Thanks to the OSCE’s support, we managed to hold technical workshops on environmental risk assessment, develop national mine action standards and organise training programmes for deminers. We look forward to further support from the OSCE in building the capacity of the national demining services and minimising the environmental consequences of the war. I thank Petr Mareš and the OSCE for their support for Ukraine. We worked closely together before the full-scale invasion, and today our connection is even more impactful. We continue to work together and implement our most ambitious projects,” said Svitlana Grynchuk.