Verkhovna Rada to consider a draft law on land improvements: briefly on possible changes

A group of deputies headed by the "Servant of the People" party member, Mykola Solskyi, submitted a draft law on organizing water users and introducing new rules on land development. It was previously in the first reading, after which it was amended. And on August 17, the updated draft appeared among those registered on the Verkhovna Rada's website.

Rubryka explains what will change if people's deputies vote for the new law.

Draft Law №5202 aims to increase the efficiency of irrigation systems in Ukraine and modernize it. In particular, they propose to create a kind of controlling body, water user organizations. Such structures will be non-profit and financed mainly by membership fees and payment for services provided. Other sources of money, such as loans, will not be banned.

Both owners of agricultural land plots and their users will be able to become its members. Such organizations will have clear areas of activity where they will control the use, operation, and maintenance of the engineering infrastructure of improvement systems.

If the law is adopted, the State Land Cadastre will be entered with information about the amelioration network, its components, and land plots where it will be able to provide amelioration.

A new section will also appear in the Register of Real Property Rights. Owners of pumping stations, in-house pipelines, and other components of the amelioration network will have to enter information about their rights to them in the register.

The draft law also repeals some provisions of the Law "On Land Improvement." For example, special permits for water use from regional state administrations will be unnecessary. The obligatory permission to lay or replace the pipelines required for water supply to irrigation equipment will also be abolished. In addition, it will not be necessary to assess the impact on the environment with the reconstruction of existing amelioration systems.

According to the draft law creators, its adoption will help:

• form a safe system of investing in amelioration networks;
• make the management of amelioration systems cheaper for the state;
• reduce the cost of watering land;
• increase the efficiency of agricultural land.

Earlier, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal also spoke about the need to put Ukraine's amelioration system in order.

"We need not only to restore the old amelioration systems but also to build a new modern infrastructure following the example of leading countries. One of the options for this task is a public-private partnership with a company that is a world leader in this field," the Prime Minister said at the meeting on the implementation of land irrigation projects, which took place in June this year.