June 10, 2013, Kyiv — Radio France Internationale (RFI) aired a report on a mercury-contaminated site in Kyiv by a French journalist, in which he quotes a MAMA-86 expert.

The report, a recorded broadcast of which is available on the RFI web site, and as a written story with photos, on the journalist's blog, draws attention to the situation one can hardly believe in: in the middle of a megalopolis are ruins of an abandoned chemical giant containing hundreds of tons of mercury and other toxic chemicals, which evaporate into open air.

While working on the report, Sebastien Gobert visited the MAMA-86 office on June 5 and interviewed Denys Pavlovskyi, coordinator of chemical safety projects with the NGO. As Mr. Gobert said, he was brought to MAMA-86 for comments by a story in The Epoch Times that also dealt with mercury contamination of the site of the former Radikal factory and heavily quoted Mr. Pavlovskyi, in fact a coauthor of the story.

Mr. Pavlovskyi estimates that the factory's poorly guarded area must keep in its ground at least 200 metric tons of mercury. "I don't know what they will do in the years to come. But with regard to the impact on health, 200 tons of mercury is a very big problem for the city of Kyiv and the people who live near the plant. And the mercury seeps down into the soil and groundwater. This is a second Chornobyl," he was quoted as saying.

According to MAMA-86 Head of the Chemical Safety Program Olga Tsygulyova, Mr. Gobert's report and written story appeared in a very opportune time, as the Minamata Convention on Mercury is scheduled for signing in October 2013, and the "coverage of mercury contamination problems in Ukraine is timely."

An English translation of the story is available on our site:

RFI: MERCURY IN THE OPEN AIR IN KYIV