2017-2018 State Contract subject № 486/05/17 Scientific supervisor k.geol-min.n. Suchkov I.O. «Geochemical works on the title №402« Search-detailed seismic exploration works of SGT within the Kilia-Serpent stand and Krylovsky deflection»». The laboratory study of the samples of bottom sediments and the bottom sea layer, which was selected during the expedition in 2016, was conducted. The analysis of the data confirmed the prospect of a section of the north-western shelf of the Black Sea for the search of gas and gas condensate deposits. In 2017, there were three flights on the "Iskatel" VAT. Marine expeditionary work on geochemical surveys in the regions of the Black Sea's northwest shelf was conducted to assess the prospects for locating gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons.

Selected samples of marine hydrocarbon gases, as well as underground sediment samples to be studied under the conditions of a stationary laboratory for further determination of phase and quantitative analysis of gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons, and recommendations for exploratory drilling.

2016-2017 State social contract № 096 "Analysis of the quality of oil and petroleum products in the marine environment with determination of composition and structure depending on the genesis", responsible executor, Ph.D. Ponomoreva L.P. The anthropogenic contamination of marine environment objects both in coastal zones and distant from them, and their influence on the ecosystem of the Black Sea is revealed.

According to the results of the study, the assessment of the contribution of anthropogenic component in modern bottom sediments and aquatic ecosystems. An analysis of the revealed differences in the chemical composition of liquid hydrocarbons has been carried out and the areas of oil pollution have been identified. Work was carried out to control the state of bilge water, identified areas of distribution of petroleum products as a result of emergency spills at sea

2016 State Contract subject № 430/09/16 scientific director k.geol-min.n. Sochkov I.O. "Geochemical works on the title №402" Search-detailed seismic exploration works of the SGT within the Kilija-Serpent's speech and the Krylovsky deflection "." Marine expeditionary work on geochemical surveys was carried out in the regions of the northwestern Black Sea shelf to assess the prospects of finding deposits of gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons.

Selected samples of hydrocarbon seawater gases as well as samples of bottom sediments are transferred to a stationary laboratory for further determination of the phase and quantitative analysis of gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons.

International projects:

2017-2022 INQUA Focus Group SACCOM: 1709F “Ponto-Caspian Stratigraphy and Geochronology (POCAS)” (2017-2022) www.inqua.org Leader Prof. V.V. Yanko
The project is dedicated to the Quaternary stratigraphy and geochronology of the Caspian-Black Sea-Mediterranean corridor. The main goal is interdisciplinary detailed stratigraphy and correlation of Ponto-Caspian stratotypes and reference sections based on field work and laboratory study of the obtained geological and paleontological material.
2013-2018 UNESCO-IGU-IGCP - 610 "From the Caspian to the Mediterranean: Environmental Change and Human Response during the Quaternary". Leader Prof. V.V. Yanko. This project aims to study the impact of environmental change on human development within the Caspian-Black Sea-Mediterranean Corridor, which covers the Eurasian intercontinental basin of the Caspian, Black, Marble, Aegean and Mediterranean seas and coastal areas. During the Quaternary period, these basins were often connected or isolated from each other. This determined their environmental conditions and hydrological regime and had some impact on various biological populations, including people inhabiting coastal areas.

2012-2015 Project EU-FP7 PERSEUS “Policy-oriented marine Environmental Research in the Southern European Seas.” 52 organizational partners from 21 countries are participating in this project.

2011-2013 Project MAREAS “Black Sea Joint Regional Research Centre for Mitigation and Adaptation to the Global Changes Impact,” EU Joint Operational Program “BLACK SEA 2007-2013.” All Black Sea countries took part in this project. Within this project, a survey was carried out on the research vessel “Mare Nigrum” in Romanian waters during May, 2012, and a second survey was planned on the same vessel in May, 2013. Undergraduate, PhD students, and staff of ONU, as well as of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine took part in the project. Expected results are as follows: (1) to create a net of establishments and to work out rules and means of interaction between the scientific community and politicians; (2) to establish informational and educational web sites; (3) creation of specialized data bases; (4) elaboration and support of legislative initiatives; (5) disclosure and description of cases and processes that damage the Black Sea ecosystem; (6) concordance and rationalization of actions for the nation-participants. Co-Leader from ONU was Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. V.V. Yanko.

2011-2013 Project InterTrails, “Interpretative Trails on the Ground: Support to the Management of Natural Protected Areas in the Black Sea Region.”

2011-2012 WAPCOAST “Water pollution prevention options for coastal zones and tourist areas: Application to the Danube Delta front area,” the BLACK SEA ERA.NET - Pilot Joint Call “Networking on Science and Technology in the Black Sea Region.” Expected results of this joint Ukrainian-Romanian-German Project are: (1) deciphering and quantitative assessment of geochemical processes connected to the organic matter influx and its role in eutrophication processes in the coastal waters and bottom sediments of the frontal zone of the Danube delta and lagoons of Razelm-sena, (2) creation and verification of a hydrodynamic model of water and sediment-forming processes in coastal zones of the Black Sea with the use of cutting-edge research methods and technologies. Co-Leader from ONU was Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. V.V. Yanko.

2009-2013 – European Project ECOST-MEETING-TD0902-090310-001280 SPLASHCOS “Sub-merged Prehistoric Archaeology and Landscapes of the Continental Shelf.” 68 universities (including ONU) from 24 countries took part in this Project. Official representatives from Ukraine were Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. V.V. Yanko, and Doctor of Historical Sciences, E.V. Smyntyna. Ideas about submerged paleontological sites of the northwestern Black Sea shelf were here summarized for the first time in European science, and based on the results, directions and routes of migration for ancient populations in this region during the Late Pleistocene were simulated. For the first time in Ukraine, a scientific plan of geoarchaeological research activities for submerged Late Paleolithic and Mesolithic sites was undertaken within the frame of the international research expedition “Gods` Coast” with the aim of determining and mapping ancient shorelines and exploring sites of the ancient inhabitants in the area of the presently submerged northwestern Black Sea shelf.  

2009-2010 Project No. F28.6/024 “Northern Black Sea region under the influence of global climate change: patterns of development of nature environment during the last 20 ky and prognosis for the current millennium.” The project is sponsored by the Ukrainian and Russian Foundations of Fundamental Studies. Leader from ONU was Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. V.V. Yanko.

2009-2011 Project EU-FP7 “Upgrade of Black Sea SCENE.” Coordinator of the Project – Enterprise MARIS, The Netherlands.

2006-2010 Project EU-FP6 HERMES “Hotspot Ecosystems Research on the Margins of European Seas” (http://www.eu-hermes.net). Along with ONU, 48 universities took part in the Project. Leader from ONU is Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. V.V. Yanko. A scientific survey in the Black Sea on the research vessel “Vladimir Parshin” was carried out. 

2005-2011 INQUA 0501 “Caspian-Black Sea-Mediterranean Corridor during the last 30 ky: Sea level change and human adaptive strategies.” Leader was Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. V.V. Yanko.

2005-2010 UNESCO-IGU-IGCP 521 “Black Sea-Mediterranean Corridor during last 30 ky: Sea level change and human adaptation.” Co-Leader was Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. V.V. Yanko. Up to 400 scientists from 32 countries took part in the project. Seven plenary meetings and field trips were carried out in Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria; dozens of MSc and PhD thesis were defended, three monographs and dozens of papers were published, a database of geochronological data was created; the following models were established: sea-level and salinity fluctuation, water cycle through the Bosporus, environment changes that were followed by human settlement. 

2005-2008 Project EU-FP6 Black Sea Scientific Network. Coordinator of the project – Enterprise MARIS, The Netherlands.

2006-2007 Project EU-TACIS Technical Assistance for the Lower Dniester Basin Management Planning. Contractor of the project – firm “Arkadis Euroconsult,” The Netherlands.

2005-2007 Ukrainian-Austrian project – Studies of paleontological fossils of the Upper Miocene – Pliocene age in Odessa district. Leader was Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. V.V. Yanko.

2003 NATO Advanced Research Workshop Climate Change and Coastline Migration, Bucharest Romania. Co-Director from ONU was Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. V.V. Yanko.

2000-2003 Project EU-TACIS Lower Danube Lakes: Sustainable Restoration and Protection of Habitats and Ecosystems. Contractor of the project – firm Landell Milz, England.

1997-2000 Pollution by oil and herbicides in the Black Sea: Novel detection technologies and biological impact. European program COPERNICUS. Co-Leader from ONU was Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. E.P. Larchenkov.

State budget projects:

2022-2024 "Study of the unloading of deep fluid flows on the bottom of the Black Sea in order to assess the safety of navigation" d / b topic № 612 (fundamental). The main goal is to comprehensively study the unloading of deep fluid flows (DFF) on the seabed to create a comprehensive geographic information system (GIS), which is the final product of the project, identifying their locations and assessing the dangers to surface and submarine shipping in the economic zone of Ukraine and adjacent deep. part of the Black Sea. Main tasks: 1. Creating a database of geological and geophysical data on geological and structural features of DFF unloading zones on the seabed within the above area of work, ie seeps, plumes, mud volcanoes that in fact are the part of the degassing pipes, according to their geochemical, mineralogical , and paleontological features. Elaboration of the database will be based on a comprehensive method of directional-ranking interpretation of geological information, previously developed by the authors of the project. 2. Creating a database on the hydrological characteristics of the water column in the places of unloading DFF.

2019-2021 "Development of forecast criteria for the search of hydrocarbon deposits in the Black Sea on the basis of the theory of fluidogenesis" d / b topic № 590 (applied). Funding - Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Leader prof. Valentina Yanko. The main goal is to develop a comprehensive system of precision predictive criteria, ranked by the degree of sensitivity to the object, to identify hydrocarbon (explosive) deposits in the sedimentary cover of the north-western Black Sea based on the theory of fluidogenesis by combining and integrating direct search features. The main tasks of the project include the study of: (1) manifestations of mud volcanoes; (2) gas-geochemical characteristics of bottom sediments; (3) thermobaric parameters of the fluid environment (according to the fluid inclusions of gas hydrocarbons in mineral neoplasms); (4) meiobenthos with and without hard shells (including shell isotopes); (5) interpretation, integration, comparison of the obtained results with seismic data and their consolidation into a complex system of criteria through direct search features of gas and liquid hydrocarbons.

2015-2017 “Study of the formation processes and spatial distribution of methane in the Black Sea and theoretical considerations of their influence on basin eco- and geosystems” State Budget Theme #539. Financing - Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Leader - Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. V.V. Yanko. This project is aimed at the study of formation processes of methane and how it is distributed spatially in the Black Sea. It will also include theoretical considerations of the influence of methane production on basin eco- and geosystems under different scenarios of climate and sea-level change in order to (1) understand the response of biological resources and thus help provide optimal exploitation, (2) estimate methane's effect on anthropogenic infrastructure on the seabed and navigation, and justify security measures in areas of methane emission.

2010-2012 “Toward further research into the theoretical background of the concept of submarine gas-hydrate formation and transformation during the Holocene in the Black Sea,” # 465. Financial support – Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Supervisor Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. E.P. Larchenkov.

2008-2009 “On the study of the geology and modern exogenous geological processes and the evaluation of surface and coastal destruction on Zmeinyy Island,” # ZM/336-2008. Financial support – Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Supervisor Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical sciences, Prof. E.A. Cherkez.

2007-2009 “The evaluation of the oil and gas potential of the Kiliya-Zmeinyy Island block on the basis of an evolutionary-geodynamic model of its formation,” # 412. Financial support – Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Supervisor Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. E.P. Larchenkov.

2003-2006 “Creation of an evolutionary-geodynamic model of fluid dynamic regime of formation of the Kiliya-Zmeinyy Island block, scientific substantiation of the prognosis of the oil-and-gas-bearing capacity of the Danube area of the Ukrainian shelf,” # 362. Financial support – Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Supervisor Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. E.P. Larchenkov.

2002-2003 “To expand upon the ecological-geochemical criteria for the evaluation of the influence of gas and gas-condensate deposits on geosystems of the northwestern Black Sea shelf,” # 302. Supervisor Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. E.P. Larchenkov.

1999-2002 “Study of the dynamics of deformation in geochemical fields of bottom landscapes and expansion of the criteria for the prognosis of ecological conditions in coastal-marine ecosystems of the northwestern Black Sea shelf,” # 136. Supervisor Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. E.P. Larchenkov.

1997-2000 “Ecological-geochemical and geodynamic fundamentals related to the prognosis of anthropogenic changes in the coastal zone of the interfluvial area of Danube-Tiligul,” # 775. Supervisor Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Prof. E.P. Larchenkov.