On October 19, 2009 Ukraine and Japan signed an agreement about selling quotas on greenhouse gas emissions. EPL requested information from the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine(CMU) and from the National Environmental Investment Agency of Ukraine(NEIA) about such agreement, about the amount of money, received from this agreement, and about the areas where they will be spent. Despite the fact that the CMU is the information provider of the information we had requested, he didn’t answer us – he redirected informational request to the NEIA. NEIA only partly responded to the request: it didn’t give us information about the contract value and the copy of the agreement about selling quotas on greenhouse gas emissions.NEIA answered that such information is confidentional, so it couldn’t give it to EPL. Because of unlawful inaction of public authorities in the provision of information about the selling quotas on greenhouse gas emissions by Ukraine, EPL claimed against CMU and NEIA. The District Administrative Court of Lviv partly satisfied the claim: court found unlawful inaction of the CMU and the NEIA in providing complete information on request and obliged the CMU and the NEIA to give answers on the informational requests except the information about the amount of money, received from the agreement about selling quotas on greenhouse gas emissions, about the areas where they will be spent, and the copy of such agreement. Thus, despite the fact that information about the contract value, as well as the text of the agreement, were not admitted confidential in accordance with the law and were not included in the list of the confidential information, the court, in spite of the law, agreed with the NEIS’s reasoning for not providing fool requested information. Lviv Appeal Administrative Court upheld decision of the trial court and left the EPL’s appeal unsatisfied. Because of the fact that, according to the Ukrainian law and international agreements, the information about the contract value and the text of the International agreement about selling quotas on greenhouse gas cannot be confidentional, on May 4, 2011 EPL filed the cassation to the Court of Cassation against the decisions of the Lviv Appeal Administrative Court and of the District Administrative Court of Lviv. But the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine, on June 26, 2014, rejected the EPL’s cassation claim.
No information on the concluded international agreement made the implementation of public control over the performance of this agreement and over the using of money, received from the agreement about selling quotas on greenhouse gas emissions, impossible. Close access to the requested information created the opportunities for abusing in spending, distribution money, received from signed agreement, what is confirmed today: investigation department of the Main Department of the MIA of Ukraine in the City of Kyiv opened criminal proceedings on the fact of commission by officials of SE “Derzhekoinvest” during 2012-2014 years embezzlement and appropriation of public funds, including money, received from the agreement about selling quotas on greenhouse gas emissions.
Thus, recognizing such information as the amount of concluded international agreement about selling quotas on greenhouse gas emissions, as the specific areas of spending money, received from such agreement, confidentional, public authorities create conditions for building corruption schemes. It leads not only to violations of the law, but also for situation in which received from the agreement money are not directed to the environmental projects, implementation of which will lead to the reducing emissions, what will also make our environmental better.
Similar situation is repeated today. In 2013 the Ukrainian Government signed an agreement “About the distribution of hydrocarbons, which will be mining in the Yuzivska Area”, between Ukraine and the company “Shell Exploration and Production Ukraine Investments (IV) BV” and LLC “Nadra Yuzivska”, and agreement “About the distribution of hydrocarbons, which will be mining in the Oleska Area” between Ukraine and the company “Chevron Ukraine BV” and LLC “Nadra Oleska”. Despite the fact, that these agreements contain environmental information, which, according to the law cannot be confidentional, their texts are confidentional. Exploration and production of shale gas in Ukraine today is one of the most pressing environmental problem, which must be solved with the participation of the public. However, court denied the EPL access to these agreements, what made impossible to make an impact on the situation.
Prepared by:
Nataliia Prots
Nataliia Kuts
