Views   The consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe are a serious obstacle factor in the economic construction of Ukraine   There have been twenty years since the horrible date, 26th April 1986, when the biggest technological catastrophe in the history of humankind happened – the nuclear-plant accident in Chernobyl. I remember very well the first moments when the citizens of Kiev found out about the accident. There was big ignorance. No one except the experts had contact with the atom and some new terms occurred at the time: radionuclides, heavy metal pollution, radiation etc. The accident caused pollution of more than 145.000 square meters and radiation of the population on the territory of Ukraine, Byelorussia and Russia. As a consequence of the catastrophe more than 5 million people became victims, about 5.000 inhabited places of the three former Soviet republics were polluted by radioactive nuclides, of which 2.218 villages and towns in Ukraine with the population of about 2.4 million people. However, the effect of the Chernobyl accident was also felt in Sweden, Norway, Poland, Great Britain and other countries. Unfortunately, the government of that time, of the Soviet Socialist Republics was hiding the real information about the catastrophe and it resulted in spreading some most incredible rumors about possible consequences. It led to a very big social-psychological tension among the population and lack of trust in official information. A governmental commission was formed in order to manage the consequences of the accident and it decided to create a thirty-kilometer zone of avoidance around the nuclear plant. The evacuation of the inhabitants of Pripyat and Chernobyl, of the regional centers and villages started on 27th April and about 100 thousands of people were evacuated according to the data. It should be remembered that the Chernobyl accident significantly changed the radiation condition on relevant territories in many European countries. 2.594.071 people have received a status of victims of the catastrophe since January this year. By decreasing the number of victims to 19% for the period 1997-2006, considered to be natural, two characteristic situations occurred. Nowadays there are 17.448 families in the country that get benefits as a result of losing a breadwinner, whose death is related to the Chernobyl catastrophe. There are such families in all regions of the country. I would like to point out that the accident had also an effect upon the health-demographic condition in Ukraine, which continues to be created on the radioactively polluted territories in conditions of a long-lasting demographic crisis. Mortality has started outnumbering birthrate since 1991. Mortality of children victims has gradually been decreasing and this can be recognized as one of the positive achievements of the medical science and practice in Ukraine and realized activities in the country in the field of counter-radiation, social and health protection of children victims. Ukraine’s direct losses for decreasing the consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe related to all financing sources for the period between 1986 and 1991 were about 6 billion US dollars. According to the calculations made by the Ukrainian specialists, the summary economic losses by 2015 will have been 179 billion US dollars. The consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe have been a serious obstacle factor in the economic development of our young independent country. Ratios of the social-economic losses that Ukraine has felt cannot be compared to the realistic economic opportunities of the country for their elimination in the next ten years, so further assistance by the international community is necessary. The costs, related to the liquidation of the Chernobyl catastrophe, will be having a significant negative effect upon the country’s economy for many years. As a result of that, the young Ukrainian country is seeking help from the international community as the catastrophe has witnessed that big atomic accidents cause global consequences and affect many countries’ living interests. The resources, necessary for overcoming the consequences of technological catastrophes of such extent, are far beyond the limits of the economic and technological opportunities of certain countries and there is a need for uniting the world community’s efforts. Proclaiming Ukraine as an independent country has caused some positive changes in the scheme of international cooperation for reducing the consequences of Chernobyl catastrophe. I think that we, the people of XXI century, should constantly remember Chernobyl as an example that people should be cautious with their innovations and possibilities.   (The author is a special and authorized Ambassador of Ukraine in Macedonia)