During the round table "Strategy for the Development of the Irrigation System in Ukraine" Mykhailo Sokolov, Deputy Chairman of UAC, spoke about the key provisions and debates of the draft law on the establishment and functioning of water users' association (WUA), as well as the vision of UAC how to solve them. The event took place today in Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region.

In particular, the bill introduces the concept of water users' association (WUA) - a non-profit organization whose statutory purpose is to ensure the operation and maintenance of the reclamation system and provide water users with water for irrigation.

However, there are still issues regarding the functioning of WUA that still need to be discussed and resolved. In particular, regarding the method of transfer of the reclamation system objects to organizations. This can be a transfer of ownership, trust ownership or preferential lease.

"We suggest that in the case of WUA, it is necessary to go by transfer of ownership, but with some restrictions. Thus, WUA should be assigned the status of a non-profit organization and this should be prescribed by law. This means that in the event of its liquidation, all property will be transferred to either the state or another relevant organization without the right of alienation. If we talk about rent, then the question immediately arises: what is the value? In addition, this cost can be constantly raised." - Mykhailo Sokolov stressed.

It should also be decided whether to enable businesses to build new reclamation systems and privatize existing ones. An alternative may be the operation of systems within WUA, granting the right to build new systems only to the state and WUA.

"It must be possible to create private facilities so that an individual can build a new irrigation system himself. It must be owned by him and this must be provided by a law. Why? Because it is unclear how we will be able to return to operation 2 million hectares of irrigation systems. Where will we get the money? We understand that the state does not have them and non-profit organizations are unlikely to be able to collect them or take a loan.

Accordingly, this is a way to restore irrigation quickly where it can be restored. However, there is another problem: if you are building an irrigation system, you will have to run it through land that you do not own. In addition, the question arises that, even if the law provides for such a right, it will be necessary to obtain the consent of the landowner, because without their consent it is impossible to build anything"- Mykhailo Sokolov said.

In addition, the Deputy Chairman of UAC stressed that it is necessary to determine the mechanism for fixing the ownership of reclamation pipelines. This may be the registration of ownership in the register of real rights to immovable property, confirmation of ownership by analogy with ordinary movable property.

"Today, for example, we register a car, any real estate - an apartment, a house, a plot of land - as well. In the State Geocadastre, we have a cadastral number assigned to each plot, where you can see where this plot is and what its boundaries are. But if we talk about pipelines - they are not registered anywhere at all. They seem to exist, but they are nowhere to be found. They are only in the internal documentation. Therefore, this is a separate problem and there are two ways to solve it: either to leave it as it is, or to create a system of registration of the object itself, and then the its ownership" - Mykhailo Sokolov said.