During the meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy, Deputy Chairman of the UAC Mykhailo Sokolov voiced amendments to the second reading of the draft bill 5202-d "On Water Users’ Organizations and promotion of hydro technical reclamation of land," developed by the working group.

According to the UAC Deputy Chairman, these changes are proposed to balance the bill, protect the interests of water users on the one hand and the state on the other, promote the effective operation of the system of control over water balance in Ukraine.

In particular, it is proposed:

• to establish that in order to become a member of WUOs, a water user must have a permit for special water usage, which is also the basis for supplying him with water. Accordingly, the revocation of such a permit will be grounds for the water user to lose his membership in such a WUO.
• to oblige the audit commission, during the inspection, establish whether the volume of water supplied to the water user meets the limit set in the permit for special water usage. At the same time, the water user is obliged to notify the audit commission in case of expiration or revocation of the permit or reduction of water usage limits.
• to include to the territory of the reclamation network of the organization not only agricultural land plots, but also their parts. This will provide water to the land plots, in a situation where hydro technical reclamation is carried out on part of the land.
• to provide that the service area of ​​the organization is not a requisite of the WUO charter, and information on such an area will be indicated in the StateGeoCadastre in the relevant information on the reclamation network registered in the SGC. Instead of the service area, the charter will state "the name of the reclamation network, which provides hydro technical reclamation of the relevant land plots, its location, irrigation source."
• to establish that the votes required for a decision by the WUO general meeting will be calculated from the total number of WUO members and the total area of ​​the irrigation lands, and not from the number and area of ​​irrigation of those who participated in the WUO general meeting, as it was envisaged in the draft law and taken as a basis.
• to provide that the owner (user) of the land acquires the status of membership only after the actual payment of the entrance fee, if the decision of the general meeting provides for the obligation to pay such fees. The organization provides a current list of members of the organization.
• in order to avoid possible inconsistencies with the Water Code of Ukraine to define the term "channel of state importance" to exclude the words "on irrigation and drainage systems". The wording for the second reading offers the following definition: "Channel of state importance - a channel that provides the transfer of water to low-water regions, and/or inter-basin redistribution and/or intra-basin redistribution of water resources"

These changes will mean that the channels of state importance remain water units that are not subject for privatization in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Privatization of State and Municipal Property" and which are not transferred to WUOs, which is directly defined in Part 15 of Art. 21 of the draft bill.

At the same time, the canals on irrigation and drainage systems (not main ones), as it was provided by the wording of the draft bill, which was adopted in the first reading, are not water units (water fund). This remains the principal (key) position of this draft bill, which allows to build such channels and develop irrigation of WUOs and private business.

provide for the need to conduct an environmental impact assessment during the construction of engineering infrastructure of reclamation systems;

note that the operation by water users of the engineering infrastructure of reclamation networks, which exist and put into force according to the date of entry into force of this Law and transferred to the ownership to such organizations in accordance with this law, within the existing design capacity of such a reclamation network according with irrigated land plots, do not require such an organization to conduct an environmental impact assessment and obtain a decision on the implementation of planned activities.

• to provide an opportunity for WUOs to sell by-products and services, if the funds received from them are used to finance the main activities of WUOs. For example, the sale of excess electricity from solar panels or fish from stocking canals, which is necessary for their purification from algae.
• to oblige entities, which performs operation of state-owned reclamation systems, to conclude water supply agreements with WUOs, private reclamation network owners and water users on a non-discriminatory basis in relation to other persons to whom the same services are provided.
• to oblige the owner (user) of the land plot on which the objects of engineering infrastructure of reclamation systems are located (which are transferred to the property of the organization) to conclude an agreement on its establishing in favor of the organization of free and perpetual land easement on the land plot (part of the land plot) the following objects are placed;
• to provide that the successor (successors) of the reorganized WUO may be exclusively the organization of water users;
• to provide that the requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On State Aid to Business Entities” do not apply to operations on transfer of engineering infrastructure of reclamation systems of state and communal property to WUOs. Such changes will facilitate the prompt transfer of the reclamation infrastructure facilities to the WUOs, as it will not be necessary to spend money and time to obtain approval from the Antimonopoly Committee;
• to establish that the forms of land use that give the right to acquire WUO membership are lease, sublease and emphyteusis. Accordingly, the grounds for termination of membership in the organization are the loss by the user of the land of the right to use it on such rights.
• to provide for the possibility of creating WUOs at several points of water release, if such points are located at one source of irrigation. This amendment will limit the possible service area of ​​ WUOs and prevent the formation of a single WUO on different irrigation systems, technologically unrelated;
• to establish that the number of additional votes in a situation when the WUO service area includes only a part of the land plot is calculated in proportion to the area of ​​such a part to the area of ​​the organization's service area;
• to oblige not only the owner, but also the tenant or another person who operates the engineering infrastructure of the reclamation system, which are not owned by the WUO, but which provide delivery or drainage of water for the needs of other water users (whose land plots are included to the territory WUO’s) to conclude an agreement with the WUO on the organization's use of the facility.