U4.02/05A Social and economic development of the districts of Rivne Region polluted due to Chernobyl catastrophe

The Rivne region located at the North-west of Ukraine and adjacent to the Belarus border was heavily affected by the Chernobyl accident (1986). It covers an area of 20,100 km² with population of about
1.2 million. It is estimated that about 56% of the Rivne region was radioactively contaminated. There are 341 settlements with population of 405,000 inhabitants, including 121,000 children, living in the
contaminated territory. Forestland occupies about 82 % of the total area of the region and picking forest berries and mushrooms is a traditional occupation in the region.

Forests contamination had caused a decrease in the collection of berries and mushrooms, particularly for delivering to processing facilities and markets. This had undermined the economic basis of many
rural families. However, the individual consumption of forest berries and mushrooms remained high and this situation caused the high contribution of forest berries and mushrooms to the public exposure.
Studies demonstrated that 80 – 95% of the internal individual doses result from contaminated foodstuffs, of which 60% are due to forest berries and mushrooms. Therefore radioactive
contamination of the land as a result of the accident has caused serious consequences for the economic development of the region and health of the local population.

The Volodymyrets district is located in the North-West of the Rivne region. The district area covers 1,940 km² with a population of about 62,000. Forestland occupies the most part of the area and this
district was selected for the pilot project. It is typical for the Rivne region and the affected territories of the district - the majority classified as a Zone III of radioactive contamination. Many rural settlements of
the district are located near forestland and collecting wild berries is also a traditional job of the inhabitants. Private gardening is part of the rural population life. Therefore a fruit and berry processing
enterprise was established in the district equipped for radiation control of forest products. However, the facility needs modernization of the processing equipment.

The objective of this project is to provide support to the Government of Ukraine and the authorities of the Rivne Region and to improve the social and economic development of contaminated territories of
the Rivne region. The aim was to establish a pilot project in the Volodymyrets district in order to support safe food production and decreasing unemployment, as well as to strengthen the commercial
and technical basis of small and medium sized businesses by means of encouragement of investment and private sector development.

The scope of the project was delivery, installation, commissioning, training and after-sales service of the seedlings and agricultural equipment.

The Ministry of Ukraine of Emergencies and Affairs of Population Protection from the Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe (MOE) was the Beneficiary, and the Rivne Region Department for
Population Protection from the Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe belonging to the Rivneregion state administration and the Volodymerets District State Administration were the End-users of
this project.

The implementation of the project was closely linked to a complementary EC project No. U4.02/05.

The project was implemented in the 2009-2011 period and involved the Volodimirets district state administration, Rivne region state administration, the MOE of Ukraine, experts of the related service
project U4.02/05 (Contract 200145), and the EC Joint Support Office in Kiev.

The scope of supply (see attached U4.02/05A Scope of Supply, Attachment 1) comprised of:

• Delivery of fruit and berry crop seedlings (apple trees – 26308 pcs., black currant - 33646 pcs., white and red currant - 11382 pcs., gooseberry – 18480 pcs., and strawberry - 287000 pcs.);
• Delivery of specialized gardening equipment and tools (barrows, pruning knives, garden shears, pruning saws complete with telescopic handles, rakes, fruit-pickers, branch cutters, spades, forks, gardening hoes, scythes, and buckets);
• Delivery of 8 four-wheel mini-tractors with detachable implements (double plough, disk harrow, spring-type harrow, worm mulcher, grass mowing machine, blade spraying machine, and trailer);
• Delivery of a horizontal autoclave for the fruit processing plant, its installation and commissioning;
• Delivery of fertilizers; and
• Support to the installation and commissioning of - fruit and berry crop seedlings, gardening equipment and tools and equipment for modernization of the fruit processing enterprise.

During the implementation of the supply contract timing had to be amended: i.e. the types and number of seedlings were changed, as well as the date of the autoclave installation. A sufficient number of
project participants was not identified in the established timeframe because of the rural dwellers’ cautiousness. Therefore the supply of the seedlings was also postponed from autumn 2009 to spring
2010. The project was implemented in 10 villages and the Volodimirets township councils, and in 13 settlements (villages of Polovli, Lypne, Krasnosillia, Kanonychi, Novaky, Zelene, Zhovkyni,
Dovgovolia, Kidry, Lozky, Sobishchytsi, Dubivka, and Ozero; and the township of Volodimirets). SVK Berechanka (Ukraine) supplied all required organic and mineral fertilizers, and lime to the project
participants. Podolska gardening (Ukraine) experimental station supplied seedlings of fruit and berry plants directly to the project participants.

In conjunction with project U4.02/05 (Contract 200145), a Working Group was created for coordination of the project implementation activities, consisting of experts from the service project U4.02/05,
agricultural experts, chairpersons of village and township councils, and representatives of various authorities. Altogether 19 Working Group meetings were held. Before starting the seedling planting,
practical workshops were organized on 8 to 10 April 2010 directly in the fields of the project participants. Recommendations on growing fruit and berry crops were given to all participants. All
project participants planted the seedlings according to the provided recommendations and under the monitoring of the Working Group.

The implementation of the supply contract was underway since November 2009 and was completed in 2011. A detailed list (as per Technical Specifications) is presented in Attachment 1.