The development of a law that is meant to finally protect the Carpathian highlands from construction has been postponed because 41 votes of MPs were lacking. Although 185 MPs supported at least one of the amendments, the leadership of the largest faction and entire parliamentary groups abstained or voted "against".
Whose votes were missing was analysed by the civic initiative "Holka".
What the vote was about
The vote concerned amendments by Roman Lozynskyi, an MP from "Holos":
- amendment No. 2077 to draft law No. 15460;
- amendment No. 873 to draft law No. 16051-1.
These changes were to enshrine in law a ban on building wind farms in the high-mountain areas of the Carpathians and in protected areas, and to instruct the Cabinet of Ministers to develop a comprehensive draft law on the protection of the Carpathians.
However, on 15 October, out of the required 226 votes, the amendments received 141 and 134 votes "in favour" respectively.
Who blocked the decision?
Of all MPs, 185 voted for at least one of the amendments. Most of them, 110 MPs, are from the "Servant of the People" faction.
Source: "Holka"
However, the leadership of the largest faction, namely David Arakhamia and Andrii Motovylovets, voted "against". The latter, by the way, was the only one who voted against both amendments at once.
Source: "Holka"
Among those who abstained twice are 12 representatives of "Servant of the People" and Mykola Skoryk, an MP from the "Platform for Life and Peace" group.
Source: "Holka"
Overall, representatives of almost all factions and groups cast their votes in support of protecting the Ukrainian Carpathians. There are only two exceptions: "Platform for Life and Peace" and "Restoration of Ukraine". Their representatives did not cast a single vote in favour of the amendments.
Parliament ignores public demand
Outrage over construction in the Carpathians has reached a nationwide scale. Violations during the construction of wind farms in the Zakarpattia highlands played no small part in this.
"Ukrainians are outraged by the chaotic development of the Carpathians with wind turbines. The President supported the petition on the need to protect our mountains, but the government has not taken a single step to protect the Carpathians. Half a year without a response from the Cabinet of Ministers, so there are MPs who are ready to take responsibility and propose solutions. We submitted amendments on protecting the Carpathians to various draft laws, so I am grateful to each of the 185 MPs who supported this initiative," MP Roman Lozynskyi stressed.
The petition to protect the Carpathians gathered the required number of signatures back in March. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy also responded to it by forwarding the task to the National Security and Defense Council and the government. However, more than half a year later, the situation has not moved forward.
"During this time, a separate draft law could have been developed and submitted to Parliament. Yet it still does not exist. The vote on these two amendments showed that there is support in the chamber, so gathering the votes is realistic. At the beginning of his term, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: 'We understand that for many of you the Carpathians are just a big feeding trough, but this is our country, and we will not let you eat it.' Now the government must keep these words," stressed Andrii Tupikov, the author of the petition, a veteran and a biologist at the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group.
As a reminder, despite the scandal surrounding the construction of a wind farm on Runa, the authorities at the state level are promoting investment projects to build three more wind farms in Zakarpattia.
Unique ecosystems are harmed both by the construction of facilities and by the creation of infrastructure. For example, old-growth forests are being cut down to build roads, and habitats of rare animal and plant species are being destroyed to install power lines.
