The Committee on Environmental Policy, Use of Natural Resources and Chornobyl Aftermath Mitigation does not uphold the bill to amend several legislative acts re improving the procedure of execution of the right to possess, use and manage water objects, including landlocked bodies of water by the only source of power in Ukraine (people)
22 March 2013, 16:07
The bill (Reg. No. 2368) suggests introduce holding of mandatory local referendum to settle the issues of providing landlocked bodies of water into private ownership of citizens and legal entities, as well as providing water fund lands for use by citizens and legal entities under rental terms.
Committee members upheld the necessity to legislatively settle the issues of lending water land funds and the right to private ownership of water objects stipulated by the Land Code.
However, the Land Code stipulates that only water objects of local significance and lakes situated in river basins of nationwide significance can be provided for use under rental terms.
People’s deputies believe that lending “lakes, water funds and other reservoirs”, as stipulated by article 59 of the Land Code, shall threaten environmental safety.
The Committee has expressed several reservations in regard to providing natural reservoirs in private ownership.
The Committee believes that water objects should mainly remain in state and communal ownership of territorial communities.
Parliament members stressed that introduction of a referendum on the abovementioned issue shall lead to insufficient legal settlement of the issue and promote conflict situations while enforcement.
The respective decision was referred to the specialized Committee.