UAC members from southern regions during online meeting talked about situation when they needed to modernize or breathe a new life into irrigation fields’ system in Ukraine with representatives from European bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine.       

The UAC Chairman Andrii Dykun placed greater focus on light of recent events in the south of Ukraine, when some agriculture enterprises lost the crops because of dry season - this question is very relevant.

“We have to unite and make a national irrigation program for our country.” - Andrii Dykun says.

EBRD representative Vasyl Hovhera showed us three-year research results about Ukrainian irrigation system and mentioned that systems were not the same. There are a lot of systems and they are different in each region (even in different districts from one region) – agroclimatic and geographical conditions are too different.

EBRD has performed detailed technical audit on Nyzhnodnistrovska irrigation system, which is the oldest in Ukraine and nowadays it in in bad condition. Nyzhnodnistrovska irrigation system covers 40 thousand hectares, in fact 7,5 thousand hectares are irrigated. For complete reconstruction they need 84 million euro, it means, at the average, 2 thousand euro for one investment hectare. Talking about other irrigation systems, they need the same audit for reconstruction cost estimating.

Also, UAC participants voiced the main problems connected with irrigation systems' work and their management. This is the state irrigation systems monopoly, which is not effective, because we know nothing about cash distribution system (money that was payed for water) and tariffs formation. Besides, agriculture enterprises are obliged to sign contracts for additional services they don’t need, and, in fact, don’t get.

The best way out is to make Association of abstractors and to give them legal rights to manage some irrigation systems’ objects, for example, water pumping station. It gives an opportunity to invest in it.