The water company said how much money is needed to restore the supply of drinking water to Mykolaiv from the Dnipro

Borys Dudenko, director of Mykolaivvodokanal utility company, photo: RFE/RL Current Time

Tens of millions of euros are needed to restore the water intake from the Dnipro River in order to start drinking water supply for Mykolaiv, and hundreds of millions of euros are needed to build new water intake sites and treatment facilities.

This was announced by the director of the utility company «Mykolaivvodokanal» Borys Dudenko, according to the article «NV» «Between the sea and the blown-up hydroelectric power plant. As a front-line resident of Mykolaiv, he has been living without drinking water for more than two years.»

« And repairing pipes in the city of Mykolaiv is generally crazy money. The city has about 1,200 kilometers of water supply network and about 800 kilometers of sewage network. According to our calculations, 40% of the pipes are damaged. In addition to the price of the pipe itself, money is still needed for its laying. So that you understand: if a part of the pipe is conventionally worth 100 euros for a certain area, then laying it underground costs 300-400 euros in incidental costs. That's why it's a lot of money,» said Borys Dudenko.

It is worth noting that as of the beginning of November 2024, the Service for Reconstruction and Development of Infrastructure of the Mykolaiv Region signed three contracts without a tender for the construction of a water intake from the Southern Bug River in Nova Odesa and a main water pipeline for Mykolaiv. These are works on the 1st construction site for 2.2 billion hryvnias, the 2nd construction site for 2.5 billion hryvnias, and the 3rd construction site for 2.6 billion hryvnias.

Water supply for Mykolaiv

Pipes damaged by salt water stored at Mykolaivvodokanal enterprise, August 2024, photo NikVesti

In May, Mayor Sienkevych expressed hope that the dismissal of Oleksandr Kubrakov from the post of Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure will not affect plans to build a new water main for the city.

Mustafa Naiiem was also dismissed in June. However, Naiiem himself later responded to the Ministry of Finance's accusation that the Agency did not provide a water supply project in the Mykolayiv region, noting that at the time of his dismissal, the terms of reference for the procurement procedure were already being prepared.

During the briefing on July 11, answering a question from NikVesti, Vitalii Kim said that Mykolaiv has not yet received funds from the government for the construction of a new waterworks, because the amount has changed there. He planned to present the updated estimate of the project for consideration by the government.

Earlier, the head of Mykolaiv RMA Vitalii Kim told journalists that thanks to the optimization of the estimate, about 3 billion hryvnias are needed for the construction of the water pipeline. Although earlier it was about the amount from 4 to 8 billion hryvnias.

Advertising

It is worth noting that in two years the government did not allocate funds for the construction of a new water pipeline to provide Mykolaiv with quality water. As evidenced by the amendments to Cabinet Resolution №566, approved on April 29, 2024, NikVesti is written. At the same time, in 2023, the government allocated 8.2 billion hryvnias for the construction of new water mains in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and 5.1 billion hryvnias this year.

During the conference in Berlin, the first vice-speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Korniienko, answering a question from NikVesti, stated that the lack of drinking water in Mykolaiv is one of the biggest problems in Ukraine, which the state must solve in the near future.

The head of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction, David Arakhamiia, believes that funds for the construction of a new water pipeline for Mykolaiv should be allocated from the reserve fund of the state budget.

On July 23, 2024, Mykolaiv City Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych met with the leadership of the Service for Reconstruction and Development of Infrastructure in the Mykolaiv Region to discuss the process of building an aqueduct for the supply of drinking water.

Later, it became known that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered the construction of a new water main to provide Mykolaiv with drinking water «on the fast track» — drinking water should be available by the summer of 2025. The government has already approved the corresponding program.