Kiev promised to "definitely interfere" with the Russia's project to provide Crimea with water
24 December 2020, 20:54
Text: Olga Nikitina
Kiev promised to "definitely interfere" with the Russia's project to provide Crimea with water
The Ukrainian authorities "will definitely find" the international company that will participate in this in order to prevent the implementation of the project, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Kuleba commented on the message of the Crimean authorities that the introduction of desalination technologies on the peninsula will be carried out by a "large international company".
“We immediately started work and we will definitely find it, and we will hinder her from implementing this project,” RIA Novosti quotes him with reference to the Ukraine 24 TV channel.
The head of the Crimea Sergey Aksenov said that the contractor is ready to start construction of desalination plants in the region in January to get reduce the water shortage.
Earlier, a bill was introduced to the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada prohibiting the restoration of water supply to Crimea. In response, the head of Crimea, Sergei Aksenov, advised Kiev "to finally start improving affairs in their own country."
Ukraine provided up to 85% of Crimea's needs for fresh water through the North Crimean Canal running from the Dnieper. However, after the reunification of Crimea with Russia, the supply of water through the canal to the republic was unilaterally and completely cut off by Ukraine.
The water to the Crimean residents was then supplied from natural reservoirs, but in 2020, due to the extremely high temperatures in Crimea, the worst drought of the past 150 years struck the peninsula.
To overcome the difficulties, the Russian Ministry of Defense carried out a special operation to supply water to the city of Simferopol. A special Russian aircraft was also sent to Crimea to induce precipitation. The Russian government allocated 4.95 billion rubles from the federal budget for the creation of new water supply facilities in the Crimea.
On December 19, water from the Kadykovsky quarry began to flow into the water supply system of the city of Sevastopol. The region also began receiving water from the lake on Mount Gasfort.
President Vladimir Putin has promised "not to economize" on the restoration of the water supply to Crimea. According to him, there are sufficient water reserves in Crimea. Putin pointed out that the federal government a clear plan of action to restore the water supply to the peninsula. He added that currently had a plan to supply fresh water to the cities of Novorossiysk and Gelendzhik.