FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY - Article 19

ARTICLE 19GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR FREE EXPRESSIONKyiv respondents noted that the authorities invite NGOs to public hearings to demonstrate‘broad public support’ for environmentally irresponsible projects – such as building projectsimplemented at the expense of parks and areas listed as protected. Journalists in Kyiv also noted that‘pseudo-NGOs’ rather than independent and committed NGOs are invited to these hearings. The latteroften find it difficult to find out when meetings are to be held.:,4,3 67Not only is public participation not encouraged, but it is at times repressed. In mid-2007, abusinessman in Kyiv tried to implement a construction project that would involve the felling of treesand the destruction of a playground. People protested and young people were reportedly ‘hired’ toharass the demonstrators. This led to a scandal, following which the Mayor of Kyiv assured the publicthat nothing would be built illegally. An environmentalist interviewed expressed doubts that thispromise would be kept. 320In some cases people’s actions have prevented construction projects, but could not restorewhat had already been destroyed. In Kyiv, in 2007 there was a fence surrounding the area where asquare used to be. The planned construction of a new building had been suspended because of publicprotests, but the square that was destroyed to create space for the building was not replaced. If properconsultation had been carried out, an agreement might well have been reached with the localpopulation.:,4,4 !>" 6An NGO representative from Kyiv highlighted a process known as ‘local initiative’ as the best meansfor public participation in Kyiv. These involve an established procedure whereby if the public collects1,000 signatures, it can demand a specific issue be added to the agenda for the forthcoming CityCouncil’s session. This procedure was instrumental in overturning a number of decisions by the cityauthorities on land-related and other matters. There were approximately 30 local initiatives before2006. Unfortunately, when the deputies for the new Council were elected in spring 2006, the majorityof them ignored the local initiatives.Those interviewed also commented positively on the co-operation between Kyiv NGOs andthe State Agency for Natural Reserves (a sub-branch of the MEP), which resulted in the adoption ofregulations to improve the agency’s performance and in training events for the staff of national parks320 Ibid.For Internal Use Only. Is Post-Chornobyl Ukraine Ready for Access to Environmental Information?ARTICLE 19, London, 2007)"