ABSTRACT
This chapter examines in some detail the other part of the Soviet environmental legacy: the system of environmental management in Ukraine. The common thread that connects the vignettes is obvious: the “spontaneous” and paradoxical nature of environmental developments in Ukraine. Environmental ministries had come into being, but in each Soviet republic they were only one of several agencies responsible for natural resource management or environmental protection. In Latvia, Lithuania, and Moldova, the environmental ministries were subordinated to the parliament, at least temporarily, to give them increased attention In Ukraine, as in most other former Soviet Union republics, the environmental ministry has had to share environmental responsibilities with several others. The principal environmental institution in the Ukrainian government is the Ministry for Environmental Protection. Since Ukrainian independence in 1991 and the establishment of an independent Ukrainian environmental ministry, there have been Yurii Shcherbak, and Yuriy Kostenko environment ministers, each with differing priorities.
