On 28 September, at the session of the IAEA General Conference, Ukraine was elected as a member of the Agency's Board of Governors.

The Board comprises 35 countries, including Canada, the United States, France, and Germany. This year, Ukraine joined this list.

Ukraine has previously been elected to the IAEA Board of Governors. The last time was more than 10 years ago, namely in 2009-2011.

After that, Ukraine submitted an application for membership in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors in 2018, but was not elected because it lacked the votes. This time, the decision on Ukraine's membership in the agency's governing body was approved by 79 votes.

"We are grateful to all countries that supported the decision on Ukraine's membership in the IAEA Board of Governors. russia's war against Ukraine and the occupation of our largest nuclear power plant by the enemy have called into question both the ability to ensure nuclear and radiation safety and the development of the nuclear industry in general. After all, any incident at a nuclear power plant will offset all civilisation's achievements in the peaceful atom. The international community must return to the 7 Pillars of Nuclear Safety. I hope that we will be able to achieve this by joining our efforts to make the russians stop their nuclear blackmail of the whole world," said Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko.

The Minister of Energy added that Ukraine's success in becoming a member of the IAEA Board of Governors was achieved, in particular, thanks to the joint efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Energy.

German Galushchenko expressed his gratitude to Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and all diplomats involved in the relevant work for the powerful result that would strengthen Ukraine in the IAEA.

It should be noted that the IAEA Board of Governors is one of the two governing bodies of the agency along with the annual IAEA General Conference. The Board considers applications for membership, approves safeguards agreements, and publishes IAEA safety standards. The Board of Governors also appoints the Director General of the agency, who is approved by the General Conference.