Mr. Chairperson,

The delegation of Ukraine warmly welcomes the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine Ambassador Verba back to the Permanent Council and thanks him for presenting the semi-annual activity report.

Ukraine values and supports the important role of the PCU as part of international efforts aimed at assisting Ukraine’s Government in pursuing comprehensive reforms that foster implementation of the OSCE commitments, promote dialogue in the society and address the grave impact of the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine, illegal occupation and attempted annexation of parts of Ukraine’s territory by Russia.

In this context we are grateful for PCU’s support in organizing in the past two years of information briefings at the OSCE in Vienna, devoted to various aspects of the reform agenda in Ukraine. We consider important participation of the main Ukrainian stakeholders, which provided a good opportunity for the OSCE participating States to get a first-hand account of the ongoing reform efforts in my country.

We appreciate the established level of co-operation of the PCU with the Ukrainian authorities as key partners in implementing OSCE projects. The joint ownership in the project development and implementation provides the best model for an efficient and output-based cooperation. We also note commitment to effective coordination of activities by the Project Co-ordinator with other international organizations operating in Ukraine aiming at avoiding duplication, ensuring synergy and maximizing results.

We support the proposed PCU’s activities in all three OSCE dimensions and believe that primary focus should be accorded to addressing the consequences of the Russia-instigated conflict in Donbas, enhancing border security, humanitarian demining, medical, psychological and social rehabilitation of former Ukrainian military servicemen, issues of IDPs, ecological aspects of the conflict as well as projects aiming to support the national reforms and social dialogue.

Greater emphasis should be placed on the economic and environmental consequences of the conflict. We also encourage involvement in project activity in the field of cyber security in energy sector and development of the state system of protection of critical infrastructure.

As regards the strategic planning exercise, mentioned in the PCU report, we consider it as an internal PCU document, with internal Secretariat instructions and benchmarks for the field presence. In our view, thorough analysis of the strengths and weaknesses in fulfilling the mandate and achieving impact could be useful for the overall enhancement of all OSCE field activities.    

I wish to once again thank Ambassador Verba and his staff for their fruitful work. As this is the last time Ambassador Verba reports to the Permanent Council in his current capacity, I would like to thank him for his dedication and professionalism over four years in office and wish every success in his future endeavours.

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.