After operating for just under a year, the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture has now been split into two separate government bodies. The relevant resolution was adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
This was announced on the institution’s website.
Reverse reorganisation
The changes are enshrined in Government Resolution No. 963, ‘Certain Issues Concerning the Optimisation of the System of Central Executive Bodies’.
Following a large-scale government reorganisation, the “mega-ministry” was renamed the Ministry of Economy and Environment of Ukraine. The ministry must, within two weeks, prepare and submit to the Cabinet of Ministers for consideration a draft regulation on the ministry and proposals for amendments to legislative acts arising from this resolution.
The agricultural component has once again been separated into the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine. To this end, the government has repealed last year’s resolution on its abolition.
The fate of the Ministry of Environment
When upcoming changes in the government became known, public organizations, experts, and scientists once again issued a public appeal – to restore a separate Ministry for Environmental Protection and Natural Resources. The open statement set out arguments in favor of this decision, including, in particular, the conflict of interest between the economic and environmental segments of the authority.
As we can see, the government did not take these arguments into account. In response to a direct question about restoring the Ministry for Environmental Protection, the new Prime Minister of Ukraine, Serhiy Koretsky, replied:
“The only reason why it was not possible to propose the division at this stage is that a little more time is needed to formulate clear goals, objectives, and to identify a person who can lead it. This will take time.”
In his address to Parliament, he did not mention environmental policy.
The new Minister of Economy and Environment, Oleksandr Kravchenko, is primarily associated with issues of economic recovery and investments. The new minister has not shown any public interest in environmental matters.
