The 35th Meeting of the Economic, Commercial, Technological and Environmental Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation was held at The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

The People´s Deputies of Ukraine, members of the national delegations of Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Romania, Russia and Turkey attended the meeting.

The participants ratified the Protocol of the 34^th Meeting of the Economic, Commercial, Technological and Environmental Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation held in Kishinev in March, 2010. They discussed marine environmental conditions in the Black Sea Region, search and rescue operations, prevention of oil spills and pollution of the Black Sea, protection of the environment of the Black Sea. The Recommendations 117/2010 "On the State of Marine Environment in the Black Sea Region" were also discussed.

Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, delivered a welcoming speech at the 35^th Meeting of the Economic, Commercial, Technological and Environmental Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. He stressed that "the Black Sea has trans-frontier environmental issues, and the failure to settle them may damage the ecosystems of the entire region."

The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine declared that Ukraine took action to fulfill its commitments under the following environmental conventions: the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution; the Convention on Co-operation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the River Danube; the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol to it.

The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine stated that under the Resolution of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of 04.02.1994 "On Ratification of the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution", our state also ratified the following Protocols: the Protocol on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Black Sea From Land Based Sources and Activities; the Protocols on Cooperation in Combating Pollution of the Black Sea Marine Environment by Oil and other Harmful Substances in Emergency Situations; the Protocol on the Protection of the Black Sea Marine Environment Against Pollution by Dumping.

V.Lytvyn underscored that Ukraine was the only country among the Black Sea states, Contractual Parties of the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution, that had drafted and adopted a special policy document the State Program on Protection and Reproduction of the Environment of the Azov and Black Seas.  The Head of the Parliament stressed that "economic activity of the countries in the basins of rivers falling into these seas, especially the Danube and the Dniester Rivers, is the main cause of the Black Sea pollution." "Analysis of the influence of anthropogenic activity on the Black Sea region environment proves that unbiased conclusions can not be made on the basis of a territorially limited economic activity, as the integrated ecosystem is concerned," he stated.

V.Lytvyn believes that the countries of the Black Sea region should take joint action to protect and reproduce the Black Sea environment, preserve and rationally use marine natural resources, and provide sustainable socio-economic development of the Black Sea region. 

Among the basic tools for settlement of the environmental issues of the Black Sea region, V.Lytvyn singled out discussions at the international forums, debates of specific problematic issues on the bilateral level, use of international legal instruments envisaged by the environmental conventions. "The Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation is obviously an international platform for discussion of the issues of the Black Sea region."

The speakers discussed the environmental conditions in the Black Sea region. They stressed that the oil contamination of the Black Sea took place mainly in the coastal zones near the stationary sources, ports and industrial enterprises. Accidental or service offshore unloading from marine vessels contaminates both coastal and distant areas. As to the presence of dangerous chemicals in the basins of the Black and Azov Seas, the researchers have repeatedly reported on the high concentration of synthetic contaminators in different parts of the marine basin. Municipal water sewage facilities, agriculture and industry are the main sources of contamination. Another environmental problem of the Black and Azov basins is radioactive contamination after the Chornobyl Disaster in 1986.

The participants of the meeting declared that provision of navigation safety and protection of the Black Sea from the navigation-related pollution was the key task of the Black Sea region countries. They declared that every country took action to harmonize legislation with the requirements of the international organizations, esp. the International Maritime Organization.  

The attendants also scrutinized draft recommendations 117/2010 "On the State of Marine Environment in the Black Sea Region."

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation recommends that the Parliaments and the Governments of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation member states upgrade the system of dangerous waste disposal, utilization of industrial waste and trans-border transportation of waste; facilitate introduction of innovative, environmentally-friendly and resource-saving technologies in marine ecology; exchange legislative information on the protection of marine environment and attainments in the protection of marine ecology; guarantee application of national laws, provisions and international agreements that constitute a part of the national legislation.