The world-famous Ukrainian athlete Serhiy Bubka was also present at the meeting.

The Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction with Ukraine’s cooperation with UNESCO to which a further impetus had been given during the Director-General’s official visit to the country in September 2000.

The Director-General and the Prime Minister exchanged views on the importance of joint global action in environmental protection, in particular as concerns freshwater issues, and UNESCO’s contribution in this field. Mr Matsuura congratulated the Prime Minister on the recent holding of the 5th All-European Conference of Ministers for Environment Protection “Environment for Europe” organized in Kiev from 21 to 23 May 2003 and expressed UNESCO’s readiness to cooperate in the follow-up to this conference.

Highlighting the outstanding athletic achievements of Mr Serhiy Bubka, the Director-General told the Prime Minister that he would be happy to designate Mr Bubka as UNESCO Champion for Sports and proposed that a ceremony be held in early November 2003 for this purpose. The Prime Minister expressed his willingness to attend the ceremony.