The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine is not fulfilling its direct responsibilities and is delaying the creation of a nature reserve in the Svidovets mountain range in the Carpathians.
This was stated by members of the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group (UNCG) on their Telegram channel.
They want to build wind turbines in this unique mountain range
Activists said that construction equipment is currently operating in Svidovets, where a tower is being installed to measure wind strength. They published photos from the site of the work.
Photo: t.me/ngo_uncg.
Photo: t.me/ngo_uncg.
UPG members said that there are plans to build wind farms here.
“To this end, developers have already begun to prepare the necessary documents and have started the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) procedure,” they said.
Photo: t.me/ngo_uncg.
Photo: t.me/ngo_uncg.
The activists provided a link to the relevant case on the EcoSystem platform. They emphasized that the appearance of construction equipment in Svidovets is a direct consequence of the inaction of the Transcarpathian Regional Military Administration and the Ministry of Environment.
The ministry has distanced itself from protecting the Carpathians
The UPG recalled that back in the spring of 2023, a petition to the President of Ukraine regarding the creation of the “Free Svidovets” nature reserve gathered the necessary 25,000 votes.
The need to create a nature reserve in Svidovets was also mentioned by the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management in its decision in October 2024. The same opinion was expressed in official letters at the end of last year by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
Activists emphasized that in order to grant protected status to most of the territory of Svidovets, the consent of land users is not required, as the relevant exceptions to the legislation were introduced back in 2021.
“If the state authorities had simply fulfilled their duties, Svidovets would already have the appropriate protected status,” the UPG believes.
Therefore, activists called on the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration and the Ministry of Environment to show political will and prepare documents for the creation of a nature reserve in Svidovets as soon as possible.
EcoPolitic has been following the attempts of business representatives to build on the Svidovets mountain range in the Carpathians and the opposition to such plans by activists for several years. In January 2023, the Free Svydovets initiative group created a petition to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Environment demanding that the transformation of the Svydovets mountain range into a ski resort be stopped.
In June of the same year, the Ministry of Environment approved a request to create the “Free Svydovets” nature reserve in Zakarpattia, where a mega-resort was planned, but redirected the work on creating this nature reserve to the Zakarpattia Regional State Administration.
As expected by the defenders of Svidovets, a month later the Yasinya village council did not approve the creation of the “Free Svidovets” nature reserve.
However, in October 2024, the court proceedings ended in victory for the activists: the Administrative Court of Cassation upheld their cassation appeal, ruled the previous decision of the Eighth Administrative Court unlawful, and overturned the decisions of the Rakhiv and Tyachiv District State Administrations regarding the approval of the detailed plan of the territory (DPT) of the Svidovets resort.
