Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to deepen cooperation in environmental protection sector

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will deepen cooperation in the field of environmental protection. Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Svitlana Hrynchuk agreed on this with Acting Head of the OECD Office in Ukraine Michal Falenchyk.

The key issue in the dialogue is Ukraine's transition from the status of a prospective member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to the status of a full-fledged member of the organization.

The measures for Ukraine's accession to the OECD include an environmental component. There is an important step ahead: raising Ukraine's status in the organization's Committee on Environmental Policy to the level of a member. We have to submit an application this year, so we agreed with the OECD director to continue consultations between our experts.

“Moving to a new level will simplify the procedure for Ukrainian experts to participate in OECD events. This is important for Ukraine, in particular, to strengthen our experience in assessing environmental damage caused by hostilities and to improve the relevant methods. Cooperation with the OECD can create additional capacity to engage partners and experts,” emphasized Svitlana Hrynchuk.

“One of the most important conditions for Ukraine's accession to the OECD is to review our legislation in the context of its compliance with the organization's requirements. Mr. Michal Falenchyk assured that our experts would receive full support from the OECD in preparing this document.