On February 16, 2021, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine failed to vote in favor of adopting the government draft law “On Prevention, Reduction and Control of Industrial Pollution” № 4167. Only five more votes were needed to adopt the draft law… In particular, Mr. Rozumkov, who was calling on people’s deputies to vote, for some reason did not cast his vote. Apparently, he was so preoccupied with the state of environmental pollution that will slow down Ukraine’s movement towards the European Green Deal that he got confused and did not manage to vote.
Today we will not speak about the facts that the draft law 4167 was developed in the framework of Ukraine’s commitments to the European Union and the European Energy Community, that the modernization requirements have long been the responsibility of polluters, and the draft law only introduces an effective mechanism of their implementation. We won’t repeat our statements about clean air and longer life for Ukrainians. We will not even expose the manipulation with data and outright lies of industrial lobbyists in the premises of the Parliament and in the press as all these are long-known facts.
Today we want to address business. The European Green Deal is gaining momentum in Europe. In order to support its own producers and promote the greening of neighboring countries, the European Commission is implementing A Carbon Border Adjustment (CBA) mechanism. It will ensure that European goods produced to the highest environmental and climate standards can compete with carbon-intensive, and therefore cheap energy, steel and other goods imported into Europe. This means that very soon Europe will essentially refuse Ukrainian products because when buying goods at the same price, a European citizen will choose a product causing the least loss and damage to the environment. By refusing to modernize, you first of all deprive yourself of the future. Consider which is more profitable in the long run: the actual closure of European markets or investment in own production, business reputation and health of fellow citizens!
277 deputies voted in favor of finalizing the draft law. Given that none of the comments made to the text is systemic, and all of them could well be taken into account when preparing the draft law for the second reading, we are convinced that the relevant committee will promptly finalize the draft law and we will soon see it again on the agenda of the Verkhovna Rada.
