Statement by the delegation of Ukraine at Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole on the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment

Statement by the delegation of Ukraine at Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole on the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment

Dear colleagues,

At the outset we would like to join our colleagues in welcoming the work done by the members of the Bureau and the Division of Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea.

Ukraine has always been an active participant in various international programs in the field of marine research.

We understand that the future is also connected with the study of the world ocean in the framework of international cooperation.

In accordance with the Naval Doctrine of Ukraine, the main organizations in the field of marine research are the universities of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the institutes of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, which are located in such cities as Kyiv, Odessa, Kherson, and Mykolayiv.

As a result of the temporarily occupation of Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine had lost substantial part of research facilities and research vessels.

Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine are working on rebuilding the lost potential and modernizing the research fleet.

Also an important task for Ukraine is the approval of the state program for marine research. One of the priorities of this program should be international cooperation.

Ukraine is actively developing the following areas in the field of marine research: biosafety and biodiversity, ecology of the seas etc.

We are open for collaboration in this sphere.

This year Ukraine is going to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession to the Antarctic Treaty — a core element of the current legal regime for the world’s largest natural reserve devoted to peace and international science.

Following successful negotiations between the Governments of Ukraine and the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1995, the Faraday Station was transferred to Ukraine and renamed to Academic Vernadsky, where the 22 nd Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition is already started its work.

As a representative of Ukrainian Government to the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat let me thank the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain for this gesture, and acknowledge our fruitful cooperation for the benefit of all Antarctic scientific community.

The Vernadsky Station is a unique geophysical observatory enables to make significant contribution to develop the early warning of natural hazards such as earthquakes and tsunamis. That’s why, multi-disciplinary research in the South Polar Region require more strengthened collaboration between National Antarctic Center of Ukraine and relevant authorities as well.

Ukraine plans to perform marine research within the State Program for Antarctic Research as well.

In this regard we are looking forward for an active international cooperation in this direction.

Thank you for your attention!