Among the environmental community there are rumors that the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal are dissatisfied with the work of the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets and he may lose his position.
Although the names of the likely candidates are unknown, EcoPolitics has compiled a list of likely successors to Strilets.
- Tatyana Tymochko , head of the All-Ukrainian Ecological League, adviser to the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources
Tymochko worked as vice-rector for social and environmental work at the State Environmental Academy of Postgraduate Education and Management of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources. In 2012-2014, she was the head of the National Environmental Council of Ukraine, co-head of the working group on the preparation of the Concept of Ukraine's Transition to Balanced Development.
She specializes in:
- conservation of water resources;
- plastic handling;
- passing the ATS procedure;
- Air Pollution;
- fire prevention in natural ecosystems.
Recently, Tymochko has increasingly acted as a moderator at public meetings organized by the Ministry of Environment.
- Roman Opimachus , head of the State Service of Geology and Geology
He became the head of the State Geodesy in 2019 from the Association of Gas Production Companies of Ukraine.
In 2020, a number of mass media appeared publications, in which it was claimed that Opimachus began appointing representatives of oligarchs and relatives to key positions. In 2021, the media suspected Opimakh of manipulating the sale of valuable deposits.
Also in 2021, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption drew up a protocol against Opimakh due to non-notification or untimely notification of significant changes in property status. And the Cabinet of Ministers ordered an investigation into him.
- Oleksiy Ryabchyn , Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishyna, Advisor to the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources
In 2020-21, he was an adviser on climate policy to the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Roman Abramovsky, on public grounds, was responsible for the preparation of the Nationally Determined Contribution of Ukraine (NDC2) until 2030, the preparation and participation of the Ukrainian delegation in the UN climate summit COP26 in Glasgow.
In 2021-22, he worked as an adviser to the chairman of the board of Naftogaz of Ukraine on the development of low-carbon businesses and the EU's green course. He took care of:
- development of new green businesses;
- decarbonization of existing assets;
- implementation of best practices of sustainable development and EGS policies.
However, in the eco-community, Ryabchyn is criticized for the lack of real successes and achievements, despite the colossal opportunities of his positions.
- Svitlana Grynchuk , former Deputy Minister of Environment Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine for European Integration;
Grynchuk held the post of deputy minister from July to December 2022. She actively highlighted the environmental consequences of Russian aggression for the entire European continent at international conferences, in particular at Congress of the French association AMORCE.
Also, Grynchuk, as part of the Ukrainian delegation at the UN Climate Summit COP27, prevented another attempt by Russia to hybrid legalize the illegal annexation and occupation of Ukrainian territory.
At the Ministry of Environment, she worked on the adaptation of environmental legislation of Ukraine to European legislation. Grynchuk was responsible for the system of monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as for the emissions trading system. In the environmental community, her professionalism and expertise in the field of green transformation are highly appreciated.
After being dismissed from her position, she did not leave environmental activities and headed reform support team under the Ministry energy industry
- Mykhailo Lebigovich
Blogger Mykhailo Lebiga has become a kind of meme in social networks, who is jokingly nominated for various positions.
"In our case, any changes are good. It won't get worse," wrote expert Oleksiy Sheyko in discussing the joke on Facebook.
Such a reaction may indicate that effective personnel changes in the Ministry of Environment are important for the eco-community. After all, the department is often accused of the lack of real changes in environmental policy, failure to implement reforms, ignoring the implementation of European norms and the opinion of the public and business representatives. In addition, eco-activists accuse Strilets of returning to methods of the era of Yanukovych's presidency.
Previously, EcoPolitics analyzed how the environmental policy of Ukraine changed over the last year.
