Water resources may suffer as a result of the authorities’ desire to develop Ukraine’s fisheries sector. According to environmental activists, the Verkhovna Rada will vote this week on draft law No. 12384. If adopted, fish farmers will be able to lease reservoirs without auctions or public discussions.
EcoPolitic has gathered the arguments put forward by activists who oppose this legislative initiative.
Fences, construction, unregulated sales
The draft law “On Stimulating the Economic Development of the Fisheries Sector” will allow industrial companies to access reservoir areas that supply the population with drinking water.
The public initiative “Holka” expresses direct concern about the negative impact such activities could have on water quality. In particular, they point to adverse factors such as the use of additional chemicals, the construction of facilities on the banks, and fish decomposition in the water body.
Overall, the draft law proposes a number of controversial changes. As explained by Kateryna Filyuta, an expert with the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group (UNCG), attention should be paid to the following:
- introduction of the term “investor”, granting permission to construct facilities within protected shoreline strips;
- exemption of investors from the requirement to participate in auctions or pay rent for the use of water bodies;
- ignoring water intake protection. The draft law prohibits investment activities within the first protection zone but disregards the other two zones.
As previously reported by EcoPolitica in its analysis of the controversial draft law No. 12384, even the main legal department of the Verkhovna Rada has criticized it.
“A number of provisions in the draft law do not comply with the Constitution of Ukraine, are inconsistent with the laws of Ukraine, and do not take into account the legal position of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine,” – stated the parliamentary legal department.
Attempt No. 2
This is already the second attempt to “push through” these contentious provisions in parliament. The Verkhovna Rada had previously adopted draft law No. 8119, most of whose provisions are almost identical to those of draft law No. 12384.
After the adoption by members of parliament, the President of Ukraine vetoed the law. The document was found to pose serious corruption risks and contained a number of inconsistencies with current Ukrainian legislation, including the Constitution.
Excerpt from the Verkhovna Rada’s comments. Source: “Conservationist’s Notes” on Telegram.
Legal safeguards rejected
Lawmakers could have addressed concerns from experts and the public by “building in” a series of safeguards against abuse into the draft law.
In the opinion of conservationist Petro Tiestov, it would have been appropriate to develop and publicly discuss a list of reservoirs, or their parts, to be allocated for fish farming operations. Additionally, he believes an exhaustive list of structures permitted for construction in the protected shoreline area should have been provided.
According to the environmental activist, similar amendments were proposed, but they were later rejected.
Кriticism from eco-experts was also triggered by the government’s decree on the experiment involving the use of aquatic bioresources within nature reserve territories. Activists emphasized the conflict of interest, as the State Fisheries Agency, which will now approve catch limits, is primarily interested in increasing procurement volumes of aquatic resources rather than their conservation.
Recall that the United Nations has described the shortage of drinking water in the world as global water bankruptcy. During 2022–2023, 1.8 billion people lived under drought conditions. Another 4 billion inhabitants of the planet experience severe water shortages for at least one month each year.
