President of Ukraine expects Clean Environment Office in Kryvy Rih to be ready this year
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky expects the readiness of the Clean Environment Office of the State Environmental Inspectorate in Kryvy Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region by the end of 2020, according to the department’s website with reference to its Head Andriy Maliovany.
“The head of state said he expects a real and visible result in solving the environmental problems of Kryvy Rih. This is about the opening of the Clean Environment Office of the State Environmental Inspectorate to strengthen environmental control over industrial facilities. He added that the preparation of the office before opening should be finished by the end of the year. For my part, I would like to say that this task is being carried out on schedule,” Maliovany said after a meeting with the participation of the president of Ukraine on the prospects for the development of the region.
According to him, at present, the internal repairs in the premises allocated for the office are already at the final stage. “Agreements have been signed to provide the office with necessary equipment. And by the end of the year the office will be ready for opening, and employees of the central office are planned to move there in early 2021,” Maliovany said.
According to the head of the State Environmental Inspectorate, the president also said that on his instructions, the State Environmental Inspectorate’s needs will be financed in 2021 in terms of paying court fees, organizing market supervision and ensuring the work of laboratories for 2021.
During the meeting, Maliovany also told about the voluntary payment of losses for air emissions by the enterprise of PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih. “Recently, the State Environmental Inspectorate counted millions of losses of PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, which the company paid in full on a voluntary basis,” he said.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group can provide up to EUR27 million to the municipal transport company Shvidkisniy Tramway (High-Speed Tram) to procure 50 trams and rehabilitate 1 km of associated tramway line.
According to information on IFC’s website, the board of directors of the corporation intends to consider the relevant issue on December 21.
The tram vehicles will be operating on the existing underground and on the ground tram lines of the city and will be replacing obsolete vehicles.
The component relevant to the tramway line rehabilitation will take place on circa. 1 km section of Sobornosty Avenue, one of the main east-west transport arteries in the city center, located in the Metalurhiv district of Kryvy Rih. The construction is expected to start in April 2021 and to be completed by December 2021. The work involves dismantling the existing rail tracks and the overhead catenary, laying new tracks, mounting the catenary lines and final clean up and landscaping.
In parallel, as part of IFC’s Ukraine Cities Program, IFC is providing city with comprehensive advisory support to facilitate project implementation and increase its impacts. Activities include recommendations on improving sustainability and operational efficiency of transportation sector, reviewing tramway electric power supply system and related infrastructure to advise on capital modernization needs, as well as support in the technology specifications and selection of new low-floor energy efficient tram cars.
The project will enhance physical connectivity of remote districts and encourage tramway use, expected to contribute to the reduction of pollution and congestion in the city.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized the Mining and Metallurgical Combine PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (Dnipropetrovsk region) for failing to fulfill its commitments to improve the environmental situation in the region and urged to provide targeted financial support to people affected by harmful emissions into the atmosphere.
“If this program has been postponed for five years and not agreed with the citizens, I would like to ask you if you can consider some financial compensation for residents of Kryvy Rih, who have suffered for five years, to help them with treatment? I think that the municipality can help us find a list of people who, unfortunately, fell ill with cancer over the years,” he said at a meeting on the environmental situation in Kryvy Rih and Dnipropetrovsk region in Kryvy Rih on Friday.
According to Zelensky, over the past five years, an average of 25,000 people have appeared in Kryvy Rih, who have had cancer in one form or another.
ARCELORMITTAL, CRITICIZES, ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, KRYVY RIH, ZELENSKY
