19.06.2023
75th meeting of the Joint Board of the Union State on hydrometeorology and environmental pollution monitoring
On June 16 and 17, 2023, the 75th meeting of the joint board of the Union State Committee on Hydrometeorology and Environmental Pollution Monitoring (Soyuzkomgidromet) was held in Izhevsk (Russian Federation).
For reference. Soyuzkomgidromet was formed on December 18, 1996 in accordance with article 12 of the Agreement on the Formation of the Community of Belarus and Russia. The regulation on the Soyuzkomgidromet defines that it is an organ of the Union State that organizes and coordinates activities at the interstate level in the field of hydrometeorology and related fields (meteorology, climatology, hydrology, agrometeorology, heliogeophysics), environmental pollution monitoring, as well as providing public administration, population, economy and the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation with data and information on actual and predicted weather and climatic conditions, the state and environment pollution.
Igor Shumakov, the Chairman of the Joint Board of Soyuzkomgidromet (the Head of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet), the Head of the delegation of the Russian Federation, opened the 75th meeting with a welcoming speech.
"Since 1998, since the beginning of the existence of the Union State, the committee has successfully implemented three programs with regard to weather forecasting, including the identification of adverse and dangerous phenomena, a program to develop recommendations for adaptation to climate change, and introduced an environmental monitoring system using satellite and ground measurements. Work on the fourth program is being held," Igor Shumakov noted.
The delegation of the Republic of Belarus at the meeting was headed by Tamara Gomonova, head of the state institution "Republican Center for Hydrometeorology, Control of Radioactive Contamination and Environmental Monitoring" (Belhydromet) and Deputy Chairman of the joint board of Soyuzkomgidromet.
In her welcoming speech, Tamara Gomonova stressed that "The activities of any national hydrometeorological service are under the close attention of not only the public, but also the state. For more than a quarter of a century, Soyuzkomgidromet has been a guarantor providing hydrometeorological safety within the borders of the Union State. Over the years, it has proved its relevance, and today it is a key platform for cooperation between Belarus and Russia on global trends and agendas in the field of hydrometeorology and related fields."
The Belarusian delegation included:
Svetlana Kuzmich – First Deputy Head of Belhydromet, member of the joint board;
Tatiana Chetyrko – Head of the Meteorological Forecast Service of Belhydromet, member of the joint board;
Ekaterina Istomina - Head of the Hydrology and Agrometeorology Service of Belhydromet, member of the Joint board;
Andrey Korobchuk - Head of the International Cooperation and Public Relations Service of Belhydromet, Secretary of the Joint Board;
Andrey Kulichik - Head of the Branch "Brestoblhydromet" of Belhydromet;
Sergey Luzhkov - Head of the Branch "Gomeloblhydromet" of Belhydromet;
Nikolay Kostusev - Head of the Branch "Mogilevoblhydromet" of Belhydromet.
Traditionally, representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia, the Standing Committee of the Union State, as well as government bodies and scientific circles of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation are invited to participate in the meeting of the joint board of the Soyuzkomgidromet.
Yaroslav Vladimirovich Semenov, the Chairman of the Government of the Udmurt Republic noted: "Weather is a global phenomenon that does not linger within the borders of a particular country, but spreads to many territories. Therefore, today it is especially important for specialists to exchange information and maintain contacts for forecasting. Because the weather forecast is not only a forecast on TV, but is also important information for almost all sectors of the economy. It is especially important to develop a unified system for analyzing and assessing possible adverse events and risks that agriculture in particular may incur."
Representatives of Belarusian and Russian delegations were scheduled to make presentations on relevant topics.
The program of the meeting also included a visit to the production and laboratory complex of the Udmurt CGMS-a branch of the FSBI "Verkhne-Volzhskoye UGMS" and the facilities of the observation network of Roshydromet, as well as a number of working meetings to discuss the results of the 19th World Meteorological Congress of the World Meteorological Organization, held in Geneva (Swiss Confederation) in the period from May 22 to 2 June 2023, and the development of cooperation between Belhydromet and Roshydromet.
The decisions adopted following the meeting of the joint board of the Soyuzkomgidromet would determine the vector of development of the state hydrometeorological services of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation and their joint activities in the near and medium term.
When using the information, a link to Belhydromet is required
