Ukraine and Estonia strengthen partnership in clean technologies, green energy and sustainable recovery

Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Svitlana Grynchuk took part in the Ukrainian-Estonian forum “Clean Technologies, Green Energy and Energy of Ukraine and Estonia”.

The event was also attended by the Minister of Energy and Environment of Estonia, Andres Sutt, Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine Mykola Kolisnyk, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Environmental Management Oleh Bondarenko, representatives of the Estonian government, businesses and expert communities. On the sidelines of the forum, the participants discussed possible directions and forms of cooperation for the restoration of Ukraine. Svitlana Grynchuk emphasized that the restoration of Ukraine will be exclusively green and climate-friendly. According to her, Ukraine’s goal is not simply to restore what was destroyed, but to build a new, modernized country on the principles of energy efficiency, resource conservation and climate adaptation.

On the sidelines of the forum, Svitlana Grynchuk held a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Energy and Environment of Estonia, Andres Sutt.

“I talked with my colleague about the prospects and opportunities for cooperation between our countries in such areas as the development of protected areas, reform of state environmental control, environmental monitoring, demining and post-war restoration of ecosystems, synchronization of Ukrainian legislation with European legislation, and preparation of proposals for EU financial instruments,” Svitlana Grynchuk noted.

She recalled that during the Informal Meeting of Environment Ministers in Warsaw last week, discussions with European colleagues focused on implementing financial instruments for the environment. Estonia has significant experience in preparing CAP, Life, and Cohesion Fund projects, and their practices can be useful on our path to the EU.

“We discussed with Andres Sutt the topic of water supply and the development of a water quality monitoring system. Estonia has been developing digital solutions in the water sector for over 20 years and is ready to share them. We are talking about automatic data collection in electronic databases, the use of information systems for issuing and controlling permits, and the development of river basin management measures,” the minister noted.

Andres Sutt agreed that Ukraine and Estonia have significant potential for exchanging experience in forestry development. Estonia has practices in this area that may be relevant for Ukraine – for example, the development of a new forest resources management system. In turn, Ukrainian digital tools are of interest to Estonian specialists.

“We highly appreciate Estonia’s support. We are already implementing a number of joint projects. Last year, Estonia allocated EUR 1 million for the implementation of climate and environmental initiatives in Ukraine. Before that, it provided significant assistance in documenting environmental crimes. This emphasizes Estonia’s willingness to share its experience and resources, demonstrates solidarity with us and promotes environmental reforms in our country,” Svitlana Grynchuk emphasized.

As Svitlana Grynchuk noted regarding further areas of cooperation, Estonia demonstrates leadership in digital solutions, innovation, energy efficiency and climate technologies. Therefore, Ukraine sees significant potential for interaction: from sustainable construction and waste management to renewable energy, digital ecosystems and joint pilot projects. In particular:

• We value the help of innovative companies to develop demining technologies and clean up contaminated areas;
• For us, support in creating new approaches for sustainable water supply to the population is valuable;
• We invite Estonian companies to work with us on recovery under the LIFE program. Together we can implement the necessary recovery initiatives involving both international and Ukrainian partners;
• We are interested in attracting investments in projects to create waste processing infrastructure in Ukraine. We need new technologies and innovations. And these are also great opportunities for joint work between Ukrainian and Estonian businesses.

“In fact, there are a lot of such sectors in the environmental sphere, and they are all related to the reconstruction and restoration of Ukraine. By joining forces, we can do a good job. I am sure that it is the innovations of the private sector that can become a breakthrough point in the ‘green’ transformation of Ukraine,” the Minister concluded.