10:44 13.04.2017

Contact Group to set up team of experts on environmental issues in Donbas

2 min read
Contact Group to set up team of experts on environmental issues in Donbas

The Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine has agreed to set up a special international team of experts to study environmental risks associated with the flooding of coal mines in Donbas, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Special Representative Martin Sajdik said after a TCG meeting in Minsk on Wednesday.

"We discussed the supply of water, electricity and gas, and payments for these services. We also paid due attention to environmental risks associated with the flooding of the coal mines. In view of this, there was support for the idea of creating an international group of experts," Sajdik said.

The TCG also discussed the current situation resulting from the blockade of transport routes and the introduction of the so-called "external administration" at Ukrainian enterprises based in the parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions not controlled by Kyiv and its consequences, Sajdik said.

"Personally, it seems to me that restoring the status quo could be one of the important ways to renew economic cooperation in the region," he said.

The political subgroup on Wednesday focused on discussing issues relating to the so-called Steinmeier formula and further work as per instructions by political advisors to the Normandy format heads of state and government following their meeting in Minsk last Thursday, Sajdik said.

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