A separate pipeline will be built to discharge water from mining enterprises in the Kryvyi Rih basin - implementation of the recommendations of the Accounting Chamber
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has adopted a decision on the construction of a new pipeline for the discharge of water from mining enterprises of the Kryvyi Rih Basin into the Inhulets River in order to stop the pollution of the water intake site for a number of communities in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
This decision and a number of other measures are part of the plan to implement recommendations of the Accounting Chamber, provided following the results of the performance audit on the topic of «Destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant: Scale and Consequences of the Disaster».
The destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant negatively affected the lives of the population Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions: 1.6 million citizens in 164 settlements were left without water supply; 135 thousand citizens in 67 settlements were in the flood zone and another 19 thousand were forced to evacuate.
− The Government of Ukraine, responding to the emergency situation, allocated UAH 8.5 billion from the fund for liquidation of the consequences of armed aggression in 2023 to finance a pilot project for the construction of main water pipelines (total design and estimated cost of construction - UAH 13.4 billion).
− Additionally, UAH 2.2 billion was allocated from the state budget reserve fund to finance the needs of transporting drinking water for the population, emergency and restoration work at heat supply facilities, and material assistance to affected citizens.
During the audit, the Accounting Chamber also drew attention to the fact that the main canal of the Inhulets River - Southern Reservoir was built to provide water to the districts affected by the destruction of the Kakhovka Reservoir. Upstream of the water intake of this canal, mining enterprises of the Kryvyi Rih Basin annually discharge 11-12 million cubic meters of return water from the reservoir into the Inhulets River. Moreover, after the discharge of return waters, the riverbed is washed for the ecological improvement of the Inhulets River, for which at least UAH 427.8 million is spent annually.
The auditors of the Accounting Chamber recommended considering the possibility of transferring the discharge downstream from the water intake so that the return waters of mining enterprises do not enter the main water supply and do not have to spend significant amounts every year on cleaning the riverbed.
In order to implement this recommendation, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution on November 22, 2024, which provides for the construction of a separate pipeline for the discharge of mine waters by June 6, 2025.
In addition, the State Agency for Infrastructure Reconstruction and Development of Ukraine, in accordance with the recommendations of the Accounting Chamber regarding increasing the transparency of the use of budget funds for projects, reviewed the design and estimate documentation of the facilities and began publish on the official website information on the status of implementation of projects for the construction of main water pipelines, their costs and the state of readiness of the facilities. The Agency also provided regular updates of data on market prices for construction work and materials.
It should be noted that out of 16 recommendations provided by the Accounting Chamber, five have been implemented so far, three more - implementation has begun, and eight - have not yet been implemented.
The Accounting Chamber continues to monitor the status of implementation of the recommendations provided and will inform the public about this.