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Context in Ukraine

Ozone-depleting substances (ODS)

Ukraine ratified the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer on September 20, 1988, and as of January 2021 is the Party to all its amendments excluding the Kigali Amendment.

The county was the largest Eastern European ODS consumer among the countries with economies in transition: from 7,061 mt of List A and B ODS in 1991 to 3,310 mt in 1994. As reported, consumption in 1996 and 1997 amounted to 1,470 and 1,780 ODP tons, respectively.

ODSs were mostly used in production and servicing of refrigerating equipment, production of aerosols, solvents, fire-extinguishing substances.

The country never produced ODSs and completely stopped consuming CFCs in 2004. The CFC consumption is phased-out according to the Montreal Protocol.

HCFC consumption in Ukraine in the production of refrigerators, 2010–2014

Based on the number of end-of-life refrigerators and air conditioners, the Ukrainian ODS bank may be estimated as equal to 8,160 ODP tons or 63.41 mln t CO₂-eq.

Estimated CFCs in domestic refrigerators and air conditioners (CFC bank)

Persistent organic pollutants (POP)

Ukraine signed the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants on May 23, 2001 and ratified on May 17, 2007.

The country’s major POP stockpiles are attributed to agriculture, metallurgy and production and distribution of electrical power. The prime objective then is to dispose of stockpiles of banned and obsolete pesticides.

As of December 2003, the Ukrainian stockpiles amounted 20,900 tons of obsolete pesticides, including 2,000 tons of DDT, 13.4 tons of heptachlor, 1 ton of hexachlorobenzene (HCB), 1.1 ton of endrin.

In 2009–2010, approximately 2,000 tons of obsolete pesticides were destructed in Germany. By 2010, a 20,000 tons hexachlorobenzene deposition was found. As of today, 8,500 tons of the recovered stockpile are repacked and transported to the United Kingdom for destruction.

Estimated POP/obsolete pesticides (metric tons)

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and PCB-containing equipment

The preliminary inventory revealed 4,994 tons of PCBs in 1,212 transformers and 111,205 capacitors of various models, and 362 tons of PCB-containing liquids, all stored by different owners. The total amount of PCBs may be larger.