Svitlana Grynchuk, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, met with Matteo Patrone, Vice President of the EBRD. They discussed the prospects of partnership in the development of water infrastructure, digitisation of geological data, waste management and the development of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.

Svitlana Grynchuk told Matteo Patrone about one of the Government’s environmental priorities – water supply and development of hydraulic infrastructure. The problem of water resources concerns not only the frontline regions, but the whole of Ukraine. Ukraine needs more than EUR 9 billion in investments to implement river basin management plans and the water supply programme for the frontline areas.

“Today we continue to reform the water sector in line with European standards. At the meeting, we discussed a number of projects for the construction and reconstruction of hydraulic infrastructure, where the EBRD’s support is possible. The key issue today is their financing. We agreed with EBRD representatives to organise a separate meeting at the technical level,” said Svitlana Grynchuk.

According to the Minister, today international partners are paying special attention to the restoration of the New Safe Confinement. The EBRD is one of Ukraine’s key partners in this area. The facility was subjected to a russian terrorist attack and does not fulfil its protective function. Thanks to the EBRD’s support, an extraordinary meeting of the International Chornobyl Cooperation Account (ICCA) Assembly decided to allocate funds from the ICCA administrative budget to assess the consequences of the destruction. The first results of the survey are expected to be provided by the next meeting of the ICCA Assembly.

Svitlana Grynchuk expressed her gratitude to the EBRD for its extensive support in the field of geological data digitisation. “Back in 2021, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, and the Vice-President of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, signed a memorandum of partnership on raw materials. This cooperation is of historic importance for Ukraine. With the assistance of the EBRD and funding of EUR 220,000, a pilot project to scan 5,000 books of geological reports was implemented. Today, the terms of reference for the second stage of digitisation of geological reports have been agreed. The preliminary cost of the programme is EUR 2 million. We are waiting for the signing of the contract with the State Enterprise Geoinform of Ukraine,” the Minister reminded.

Among other things, Svitlana Grynchuk and Matteo Patrone discussed current green energy projects and the possibilities of implementing such initiatives. Svitlana Grynchuk also spoke about new opportunities in waste management that have emerged following the implementation of the relevant legislation. Today, regional waste management plans are being prepared in collaboration with the regions. Some regions have already prepared proposals for investors.

Matteo Patrone expressed the EBRD’s readiness to consider these projects for cooperation with communities.

“I would like to thank Matteo Patrone and his team for a productive dialogue. We are planning to meet soon to discuss specific cases,” said Svitlana Grynchuk.