Vasyl Yakovych Shevchuk (born January 19, 1954) was Ukraine's

environment minister An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of a ...

in 1998-2000 and 2002-2003 and a deputy

minister of economy A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

for sustainable development in 1993-1998. Under his leadership, Kyiv hosted the UN “Environment for Europe” Fifth Ministerial Conference in 2003. Shevchuk also held scientific and advisory positions at the

National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, ( NSDCU; , ''RNBOU'') or RNBO, is the coordinating state body of the executive power under the President of Ukraine on issues of national security and defense. It is a state agency tasked wi ...

and at the

Parliament of Ukraine The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capita ...

(at the

Speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

's Secretariat and the Institute of Legislation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine). Shevchuk has been the President of Ukraine Nature Conservation Society (''UkrTOP'') since 2002 and previously volunteered and served on its Board.

Biography

Shevchuk was born on January 19, 1954, in Andriyevychi Village,

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( ; see #Names, below for other names) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding ...

region of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, to Yakiv (father, 1917–79) and Olha (mother, b.1926) who were farmers. Vasyl Shevchuk was educated at the Kyiv Institute of National Economy, Faculty of Accounting and Economics (1971–1975). He graduated from the graduate school of the Council for the Study of Productive Forces of Ukraine ANU (1981). From 1981 to 1992 he worked as a junior

researcher Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

at the Council for the Study of Productive Forces of the

National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; , ; ''NAN Ukrainy'') is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine that is the main center of development of Science and technology in Ukraine, science and technology by coordinatin ...

, in the system of State Construction of Ukraine and

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

. He was a leading researcher and head of the Center for Economic Research and Forecasting of the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture of the

Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine () is the main body in the system of central bodies of the executive power of Ukraine. History On 28 June 1917 Ivan Steshenko was appointed Secretary of Education in the First Vynnychenko gov ...

. In 1992 -1993 Shevchuk worked as a senior consultant of the Economic Service of the President of Ukraine and coordinated the development of

investment policy Within public finance, an investment policy is any government regulation or law that encourages or discourages foreign investment in the local economy, e.g. currency exchange limits. Explanation As globalization integrates the economies of ...

. From 1993 to 1995 he was a Deputy Minister of

Environmental Protection Environmental protection, or environment protection, refers to the taking of measures to protecting the natural environment, prevent pollution and maintain ecological balance. Action may be taken by individuals, advocacy groups and governments. ...

of Ukraine. He headed the development and implementation of the economic mechanism of rational use of nature and environmental protection and reproduction of

water resources Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either Fresh water, freshwater from natural sources, or water produ ...

and

ecosystems An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

, financial support of nature reserves. In 1995-1997 Vasyl Shevchuk was First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Nuclear Safety of Ukraine. He provided the development and implementation of the main directions of state policy of Ukraine in the field of environmental protection, use of natural resources and environmental safety. In 1997-1998 he was First Deputy

Minister of Economy A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

of Ukraine. His responsibility was the development of a policy to stimulate investment activity in Ukraine, which made it possible to overcome the

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction that occurs when there is a period of broad decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be tr ...

and restore economic development. Then for 2 years Shevchuk was a Minister of Environmental Protection and Nuclear Safety of Ukraine. He provided state regulation of nuclear,

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...

and man-made environmental safety; liquidation of the consequences of the

Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

; development and implementation of environmental audit and non-capital modernization of production. He founded the National program of ecological rehabilitation of the

Dnipro Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

river basin and improvement of drinking water quality and State program for the protection of the

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

and

Azov Azov (, ), previously known as Azak ( Turki/ Kypchak: ), is a town in Rostov Oblast, Russia, situated on the Don River just from the Sea of Azov, which derives its name from the town. The population is History Early settlements in the vici ...

seas. He headed the delegations of Ukraine at the forums of the

IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

, the

UNECE The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE or UNECE) is an intergovernmental organization or a specialized body of the United Nations. The UNECE is one of five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Econ ...

, the

Global Environment Facility The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, persistent organic pollutants (P ...

, which contributed to the growth of support for Ukraine. In 2000-2002 he was a Chief of Staff of the

, Director of the Ukrainian Institute for Environmental Research and Resources under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. He organized the preparation of materials for meetings of the National Security and Defense Council on important issues, including scientific and technological safety and innovation policy,

water safety Water safety refers to the procedures, precautions and policies associated with safety in, on, and around bodies of water, where there is a risk of injury or drowning. It has applications in several occupations, sports and recreational activities. ...

and drinking water quality,

global climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

and national policy in this area, ensuring technogenic and environmental safety, etc. Vasyl Shevchuk headed the scientific development of the draft Concept of National Security of Ukraine (new edition), which was approved by the

Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

by the Law "On the Fundamentals of National Security of Ukraine" and provided a course for

European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

and accession to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. He initiated the establishment of the Interdepartmental Commission on Scientific and Technological Security under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. Together with the

, he developed the draft National Doctrine of Innovative Development and Modernization of Ukraine's Economy. He provided the preparation of the National Report of Ukraine on the state of implementation at the national level of the "Agenda for the XXI Century", participated in the state delegation of Ukraine in the

World Summit on Sustainable Development The World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, took place in South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002. It was convened to discuss sustainable development organizations, 10 years after the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. (It was t ...

(

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, 2002). On April 7, 2000, he was awarded the first rank of civil servant. From 2002 to 2003 Shevchuk was a Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine. He headed the Delegation of Ukraine and the National Organizing Committee of the 5th Pan-European Conference of Ministers "''Environment for Europe''" (

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, May 21-23, 2003). Form 2003, he is a Chairman of the Ukrainian Society for Nature Protection, an all-Ukrainian public organization founded in 1946 with more than 1 million members. He ensured the signing and

ratification Ratification is a principal's legal confirmation of an act of its agent. In international law, ratification is the process by which a state declares its consent to be bound to a treaty. In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is usuall ...

by Ukraine of the

Kyoto Protocol The was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is oc ...

to the

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the UN process for negotiating an agreement to limit dangerous climate change. It is an international treaty among countries to combat "dangerous Global warming, human interf ...

, which brought Ukraine's economy more than $ 1 billion investment. On behalf of Ukraine, Vasyl Shevchuk signed the Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains ...

, a number of international conventions and protocols, bilateral interstate agreements with many European countries. In 2003, he became a President of the Dnipro Revival Foundation. The main area of activity was to promote the implementation of the National Program for Environmental Rehabilitation of the Dnipro River Basin and to improve the quality of drinking water. From 2003 to 2006 Shevchuk was a Head of the Secretariat of the Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. In 2006-2011 he took a position of a Deputy Head of the Department of Complex Problems of State-Building of the Institute of Legislation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Since 2011, he is Director General of the Center for Sustainable Development Studies and a President of the International Dnipro Foundation. He was awarded the Diploma of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Family

He is married with Oksana Nezhentseva (1959) who is an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

. They have a daughter Yulia (1983) who is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

Public Service and the Academia

Professor Shevchuk is the author of more than 200

scientific works Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

, including more than 20

monographs A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

, including ''Macroeconomic Issues in Sustainable Development'', ''Encyclopedia of Water, Natural Resource Economics'', ''Nature Restoration and Sustainable Development'', ''Sustainable Development and Natural Resource Economics''. He was involved in drafting numerous laws, policy papers and national programs. Under his scientific leadership, the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

prepared The Foundation of the National Security of Ukraine, The Concept of Sustainable Development of Ukraine,See the official parliamentary website fo
Resolution the Parliament of Ukraine No.1359-III
dd.24-Dec-1999 "On the Concept of Sustainable Development. National Report of Ukraine on the Status of Implementation of

Agenda 21 Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action ag ...

for the Sustainable Development Summit in Johannesburg in 2002. Professor Shevchuk serves at the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

as the head of

Noosphere The noosphere (alternate spelling noösphere) is a philosophical concept developed and popularized by the biogeochemist Vladimir Vernadsky and philosopher and Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Vernadsky defined the noosphere as the new s ...

and Harmonious Development Theories Section and a member of Environment and Sustainable Development Council.

Links

Vasyl Shevchuk's Publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shevchuk, Vasyl Yakovych 1954 births Living people People from Zhytomyr Oblast Kyiv National Economic University alumni Ukrainian draughts players Ecology and natural resources ministers of Ukraine Preservation of natural environment and nuclear safety ministers of Ukraine Laureates of the Honorary Diploma of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine