Korniienko wants to build a water main for Mykolaiv already this year: «This is a very practical issue»

Oleksandr Korniienko, the first vice-speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, said 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 politician said this while answering the questions of the head of online media NikVesti and journalist Oleh Dereniuha during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin.

In particular, the journalist noted that this event is the third large-scale restoration conference, but still no international partner has been found who would agree to build a water pipeline for Mykolaiv.

Although recently, the state was able to ensure the construction of a main water pipeline that supplies drinking water to Kryvyi Rih, which suffered from the shallowing of the Kakhovka reservoir. Water for the city comes from the Inhulets River. The government allocated 10.6 billion hryvnias to the Dnipropetrovsk region for these works.

«In Mykolaiv, you can't drink water from the tap. And our mayor can confirm that it is dangerous. This is already the third URC conference, there are many important discussions, but for some reason no fund, foreign government or institution has yet been found that would agree to build a new water main in Mykolaiv. I would like to ask Mr. Kornienko, don't we have reserves of the state budget so that after 2 years the people of Mykolaiv will experience real recovery? Why did the government find billions of hryvnias for the water supply in Kryvyi Rih, but not for Mykolaiv?» Oleh Dereniuha asked.

Oleksandr Kornienko at the Ukraine Recovery Conference, photo: «NykVesty"

To this, the vice-speaker replied that Ukraine currently needs not only support through advice and training, but primarily financial support, which could solve a number of serious problems for the population, for example, the construction of a waterworks in Mykolaiv.

«I believe that the URC conference is very successful. I believe that Mykolaiv will find partners for financing, that there will be drinking water in Mykolaiv. I want such a conference to have a practical effect, because we are talking about some reforms, some common plan and values. But Oleh from Mykolaiv wants to drink water from the tap. This is a very practical question. And this is one example of the fact that now we have a very large number of problems in our country with basic needs for people. And we need to solve this step by step, city by city, with the efforts of partners that will contribute to the restoration of territorial communities. Now I will ask something, it may not be very diplomatic, but I am a politician and I can afford it. If we talk about support, then Ukraine needs not only institutional support, not only advice, training, seminars and conferences. We need practical budgetary support for the cities that are being destroyed by Russia, which attacks Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, the Kyiv region and the city of Kyiv every day, which also has many problems,» Oleksandr Korniienko said.

At the same time, he expressed hope that it will be possible to attract funds for the restoration of water supply in Mykolaiv during the year in order to solve the problem of the region.

«When we win, after that we will be happy to receive advice and tips. We will begin to find money within the country for reconstruction. You know that all our taxes now go to the army, to shelters, to ammunition, and go to the salaries of our brave soldiers. I sincerely thank you for your support of Ukraine and I hope that Oleh won't ask about water supply in Mykolaiv at this conference next year. I hope it will be like that,» the politician added.

In a comment to NikVesti, the head of Mykolaiv RMA Vitalii Kim said that the construction of a new water main for Mykolaiv can be financed from the reserve fund of the state budget. This requires 4 to 8 billion hryvnias.

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

It is worth noting that in two years the government did not allocate funds for the construction of a new water supply system to provide Mykolaiv with quality water. What do the changes to Cabinet Resolution No. 566, approved on April 29, 2024, indicate, NikVesti writes. 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.

What about the water in Mykolaiv?

Back in April 2022, Russian troops destroyed the water pipeline through which Mykolaiv received drinking water. Despite constant shelling, ,the workers of Mykolaivvodokanal tried to restore it, but without success.

The damaged water pipeline «Dnipro - Mykolaiv», which passes through the Kherson region, 2022

The damaged water pipeline «Dnipro - Mykolaiv», which passes through the Kherson region, 2022

Employees of Mykolaivvodokanal restore the water supply. Photo: NikVesti

In the same year, NikVesti found out how dangerous the water in Mykolaiv's taps is for consumption. It turned out that it contains enterococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, toxic elements, has an increased content of chlorides, sulfates, dry residue, etc.

More information about what threatens the people of Mykolaiv from the use of «technical» water and what awaits the residents of the city in the future — we laid out in the material «Mykolaiv. The city that holds the defense of the south suffers from thirst.»

In March 2023, the director of Mykolaivvodokanal, Borys Dudenko, announced the possible threat of destruction of the sewage system due to the influence of salt water. According to him, over the past year, the water utility has eliminated more than 1,000 leaks, and after the start of the supply of salty water, the number of accidents per day has increased to 10-15 times.

The European Investment Bank has approved additional credit financing of 20 million euros to improve water supply and drainage in Mykolaiv under the Municipal Infrastructure Development Program of Ukraine.

Before that, it was planned to allocate 1.2 billion hryvnias from the state budget for the restoration of the water supply system in Mykolaiv. Such a step is necessary for the city, because salt water corrodes the pipes and over time the entire water supply system will have to be changed in the city, explained the director of the water supply company, Borys Dudenko.

At the same time, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim, considers his team's decision to supply the city with «technical» water from the Southern Bug after the water main was damaged to be correct.

Currently, the Vodokanal is considering six options for arranging a new water intake site to provide Mykolaiv with drinking water. These searches began in the summer of 2022. At that time, the general director of the water utility Borys Dudenko talked about the options from where to get the necessary amount of water to fill the city's water supply system and its 24-hour operation.

• the first option is to go higher along the channel of the Southern Bug, choose a place with high-quality fresh water, build a water intake station there, lay a pipeline to Mykolaiv;
• the second is to continue pumping water from the Dnipro-Bug estuary, but to install industrial-scale reverse osmosis units. Such installations are very energy-consuming.

Already in August 2023, the department of capital construction and support of development projects of the Mykolaiv RMA announced a tender for the reconstruction of 12 sections of water mains damaged by salt water in different areas of the city for a total amount of 1 billion 348 million hryvnias.

In September 2023, the head of Mykolaiv RMA Vitalii Kim announced the possible deterioration of water quality in the taps of Mykolaiv residents. At the same time, he believes that currently the water from the taps of the people of Mykolaiv is better in terms of quality than «most of the water in Europe».

Currently, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is personally dealing with the issue of restoring the supply of drinking water to Mykolaiv.

In Berlin, on February 19, the Eastern Committee of the German Economy signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mykolaiv Water Hub.