Eleven Ukrainian water utilities and eighteen experts from 13 relevant institutions in Ukraine and Slovakia joined the discussion of the draft comprehensive document “Standards for the Design and Construction of Water Infrastructure” (water supply, wastewater disposal, wastewater treatment).
The discussion was attended by experts from the Kyivvodokanal, Chernihivvodokanal, Zhytomyrvodokanal, Rivneoblvodokanal, Ternopilvodokanal, Lvivvodokanal, Umanvodokanal, Lutskvodokanal, Sumy, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia water utilities, as well as representatives and experts from the Association of Water Utilities of Ukraine, Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture and the Reform Support Office of MinRegion, Technical Committee for Standardisation, UkrNDIVodokanalproekt, NP RIKOM LLC, Institute of Municipal Infrastructure LLC, TC Gradis LLC, GIZ FELICITY II project (water supply and sanitation consultant), NEURC, Ministry of Community, Territorial and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine (Water and Sewerage Division of the Department of Public Utilities) and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
In particular, Slovak experts from ESOL s.r.o., as the initiator of the project, shared the experience of Slovak cities that started to develop and approve standards in the process of implementing infrastructure modernisation projects for which the country received funds after joining the EU. They stressed the importance of developing standards in advance, as only an officially approved strategic document can ensure reliability, safety and adequate quality of all projects, while creating a transparent and competitive market. This will become the necessary basis for the implementation of the sectoral plan for the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine in the field of water infrastructure and a condition for the effective attraction of global capital for the implementation of complex water supply development projects.
Ukrainian experts noted that the development of a legislative and regulatory framework is particularly important in the context of Ukraine’s continued aspirations to integrate with the EU. The adaptation of legislation to EU standards is one of the most important components of Ukraine’s European choice policy. According to experts, in order for Ukraine to enter the European legal framework, it is necessary to adopt new laws or make appropriate amendments to almost four thousand laws and other regulatory acts. Today, very active work is being carried out on the adoption of European standards in Ukraine by various methods – both by endorsement and by translation or revision.
It was also noted that through the implementation of the Standards for Design and Construction of Water Infrastructure project, Ukraine will receive national standards (DSTU-N) for water supply and sewerage. In addition, in cooperation with the expert group of the FELICITY II project (GIZ), efforts will be focused on the development and approval of the DBN after the DSTU.
The project “Water for the Future: Modern Standards for Water Infrastructure Rehabilitation” is funded by the Slovak Agency for International Development (Slovak Aid). The project is initiated by the Slovak company ESOL s.r.o. The project partner in Ukraine is the Ukrainian Association “Ukrvodokanalekologiya”.
