The event was held under the chairmanship of First Deputy Chairperson of the Committee Anatolii Dyriv and Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Ostap Semerak in the premises of the Ministry of Ecology.
The meeting was attended by the leadership and specialists of the State Environmental Inspectorate, the State Water Agency of Ukraine, the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management, heads of departments of ecology and natural resources under regional state administrations, experts of the Ministry and state enterprises, scientists and representatives of almost 120 NGOs.
Speakers at the meeting were Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ostap Semerak and First Deputy Chairperson of the Committee Anatolii Dyriv.
Ostap Semerak focused attention on four main priorities of activity in the environmental field: harmonization of Ukrainian environmental legislation with the norms of the European Union law; the fight against corruption in order to ensure transparency in the activity of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources; introduction of a new waste management policy and reform of state environmental supervision; raising the level of environmental safety in the exclusion zone. He noted that the very first step in the fight against corruption in the environmental field will be the reform of the system of state environmental supervision.
Chairperson of the subcommittee on state monitoring of natural environment Ivan Rybak pointed to the need to solve problems of the hazardous waste management, the exclusion zone and zone of unconditional (obligatory) resettlement.
Chairperson of the subcommittee on forest resources, species of wild fauna and flora, natural landscape and objects of nature reserve fund Pavlo Dziublyk invited experts of the Ministry and the environmental community to engage more actively in the elaboration and discussion of environmental draft laws and provide support to positive initiatives of the draft laws for their proper preparation.
Employees of the Ministry of Ecology of Ukraine informed on the progress of preparing draft laws aimed at ensuring compliance with international obligations and formation of environmental policy.