EU Grants €30 Million for Water Supply Restoration in Ukraine's Kryvyi Rih
The European Union has announced that it will allocate €30 million to support the restoration of the water supply system in Kryvyi Rih, which was damaged after Russia destroyed the Kakhovka Dam in 2023.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to the press service of the EU delegation in Ukraine.
The project, which will be implemented by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), was symbolically announced on the second anniversary of Russia's destruction of the Kakhovka dam.
‘Russia's attacks have seriously damaged Ukraine's water infrastructure, leaving entire cities at risk. Through this project, the EU is helping to restore vital services and reduce the vulnerability of communities such as Kryvyi Rih,’ said Joslin Corne, Head of the Reconstruction, Energy, Infrastructure and Environment Section of the EU Delegation to Ukraine.
Before the disaster, Kryvyi Rih received water from the Kakhovka reservoir. After its loss, the city has been dependent on degraded and insufficient alternative sources.
As stated in the announcement, the new project, funded by the EU and implemented by the IOM, aims to improve water quality, reduce energy consumption and water losses in urban pipelines.
In partnership with Kryvbasvodokanal and local authorities, IOM will renovate pumping stations, replace pipelines and improve the efficiency of water treatment facilities. Over the next two years, the project will cover up to 700,000 residents of Kryvyi Rih, including approximately 80,000 internally displaced persons.
The Kakhovka Dam, occupied by Russia at the start of the full-scale invasion, was destroyed on the morning of 6 June 2023. This resulted in dozens of deaths and widespread destruction: 620 square kilometres of territory in four regions – Kherson, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia – were flooded.
An assessment of the consequences of the 2023 disaster, prepared by the UN and the Ukrainian government with the participation of the World Bank and the EU, estimated the damage at $14 billion.
After Russia blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, the EU activated the Civil Protection Mechanism to provide assistance to Ukraine. The first contributions were made by Germany, Austria and Lithuania.