Today, during a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy, deputies supported the draft bill №5202-d “On Water Users' Organizations and Hydrotechnical Land Reclamation” and recommended the parliament to adopt the document in the second reading and as a whole.

One of the most discussed issues was whether farmers, who are not a part of the WUO, would be able to receive water from the organization on equal terms with the participants. The UAC Deputy Chairman Mykhailo Sokolov assured that norms of the bill guarantee them such a right.

"There is a separate provision, which explicitly provides for this: that agricultural producers who are not members of WUOs must receive water at the same rate as everyone else. There is only one exception, which is established by the bill - when there is a shortage of water. In this case, the water must be obtained firstly by WUO members and then by everyone else. This was done to stimulate participation in WUOs," Mykhailo Sokolov said.

It will be recalled that before the second reading, a special initiative group made a number of amendments that made the bill balanced and protected the interests of both water users and the state.