The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted the act "On the signing of the Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the European Atomic Energy Community on scientific and technological cooperation and the associated participation of Ukraine in the Program of Scientific Research and Training Eurat (2014-2018)".

"This program is extremely important for Ukraine. The potential acquisition of the status of an associate member opens the way for the participation of Ukrainian scientific institutions in promising projects in the field of nuclear energy, which will contribute to the implementation of EU nuclear safety standards by the state," said the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Liliya Hrynevych.

Associate participation of Ukraine in this program involves the state's financial contribution to the program budget.

"The European side, taking into account the current austerity regime of budget funds in Ukraine, gives us a discount on the contribution of 95 % for the entire period of the program until 2018 with the possibility of extending the Agreement until 2020," Liliya Hrynevych said.

According to preliminary calculations, the total contribution of Ukraine for the period 2016-2018 may amount to about 312 thousand euros. The specified contribution is calculated for each subsequent year on the basis of the latest statistical data, taking into account the size of the GDP of the participating country.

The minister also noted that Ukraine's payment of the first installment for 2016 will be postponed to the next period, it will be distributed and paid together with contributions in 2017 and 2018.

It should be noted that the total budget of the Euratom Research and Training Program is 1.6 billion euros. This program is related to the "Horizon 2020" program already ratified by Ukraine with a total budget of about 80 billion euros.