The President of Ukraine urged citizens of the country to overcome the "stereotype of Chernobyl as an incurable tumor"

President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko today came up with the traditional subbotnaya radio image to the people, devoting him to the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. He expressed the belief that "the stereotype of Chernobyl as an incurable tumor on the body of Ukraine must be overcome."

"Chernobyl was a dead zone, but it should not always be so. This land should be revived and returned to life," the president said. He considers it necessary to translate international efforts in the Chernobyl zone from the defense sector to the field of development, "and make the nuclear power plant itself an" ecologically safe object ".

Yushchenko said that in the coming months the construction of a new safe sarcophagus over the fourth power unit will begin. For this goal, with the help of international partners, 1 billion dollars have been raised in six years, he said.

The President recalled that about 2 million citizens who suffered from the consequences of the disaster live in the country, ITAR-TASS reports.