Photo from UNIAN
U.S.-based RWL Water plans to engage in the construction of a number of wastewater treatment facilities in Donbas, said the company's Chief Operating Officer Philippe Laval during a ceremony of signing a memorandum of cooperation on water purification on Monday.
Laval said the projects will be implemented taking into account the needs and capacities of each separate region across Ukraine, adding that this includes climate and geographical characteristics.
According to Laval, using a variety of processes, the company is able to purify sea, mining, as well as contaminated underground water for drinking purposes.
The company's COO also said that the company intends to participate not only as an investor but also as a mediator with international financial institutions, including the World Bank, which gives favorable opportunities for financing large projects.
Ukrainian MP, former governor of Donetsk region, Serhiy Taruta, who was also present during the signing of the memorandum, noted that the existing water supply infrastructure in Donbas region has been completely destroyed as a result of combat operations in the area. In this regard, local authorities in the eastern regions of Ukraine are studying various opportunities to recover the municipal infrastructure.
Read alsoWorld Bank provides $500 mln, urges Ukraine to boost reformsAccording to Taruta, Mariupol city council is already considering the possibility of using water from the Sea of Azov, which can be desalted easily enough to get drinking water. In addition, he noted that the Donbas area has a great potential of using water that is pumped out of the mines, but without proper purification this water is undrinkable.
"If we use these technologies, we will, of course, solve the problem of quality and the cost issue," Taruta said.
President of Scientific Park "Kyivska Politechnika" Mykhailo Zgurovsky said exact calculations on the amount of financing are not available today, noting that one water treatment unit alone may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
According to Laval, the implementation of such projects in Ukraine will be based on the principle of "implementation, control and transfer." This means that every month, until cost recovery, users will pay certain costs included in the price of a cubic meter of water, and after that the water treatment system will be transferred into ownership of the local authorities.