On June 7, 2019, during the official visit to London, Volodymyr Omelyan, the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine  met with the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization Kitack Lim.

The parties discussed the development of the maritime industry of Ukraine, in particular, the issue of ecology in Ukrainian ports and navigation safety. During the meeting, a principled agreement was reached on the extension on Ukraine of the technical cooperation program implemented by the IMO Secretariat in accordance with the Memorandum of Cooperation between IMO and the EBRD of February 8, 2018. Volodymyr Omelyan expressed gratitude for the decision to include Ukraine in the list of countries participating in the projects of Memorandum. According to him, participation in projects of the Memorandum will have a positive impact on the development of Ukrainian ports.

Volodymyr Omelyan also raised the issue of the possibility of involving the IMO toolkit for the implementation by the Russian Federation of the order of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the return of Ukrainian sailors and naval vessels  to Ukraine.

The Minister of Infrastructure said that Ukrainian ports are actively working on the implementation of the project "Ukrainian Ports are Going Green": "The implementation of the project will promote the preservation and improvement of the environment. This concept will have a positive impact not only on the Black Sea region, but also serve as an example of the successful interaction of Ukrainian ports with IMO. All the best trends of the global maritime industry were collected in the concept of the project "Ukrainian Ports are Going Green", in particular, the monitoring of the environment (air and water), ballast water treatment, the Just in Time (JIT) concept, etc. "

Volodymyr Omelyan expressed his hope for further fruitful cooperation and continuation of consultations with IMO during the 101st session of the Committee on Maritime Safety in order to further development of a more detailed cooperation program within the framework of the Memorandum and the project "Ukrainian Ports are Going Green".