A New Approach to Land Reclamation: Myths About Law No. 4795-IX That Should Not Be Believed
Debunking myths about Law of Ukraine No. 4795-IX “On Amendments to Certain Legislative
Acts of Ukraine Regarding the Improvement of the Management System for State-Owned Engineering Infrastructure Facilities of Land Reclamation Systems”
Law No. 4795-IX must be evaluated in the context of the actual state of land reclamation in Ukraine. For years, this sector has operated under conditions of dilapidated infrastructure, an ineffective management model, and constant dependence on budgetary funding. During a full-scale war, the need for modernization has become even more acute. That is why the essence of the law lies not in changing the legal regime of management and the status of water bodies, but in changing the model of management of engineering infrastructure facilities of land reclamation systems.
The first myth is that the law allegedly removes state-significance canals from state ownership.
In reality, ownership of state-significance canals belongs exclusively to the state. Therefore, this is not about the alienation of strategic facilities, but about a different organization of their operation within the framework of the state management model.
The second myth concerns the alleged privatization of rivers or natural watercourses.
The law does not provide for this. It allows only a limited possibility of privatizing individual pumping stations and other engineering infrastructure facilities of land reclamation systems, and only under a set of clearly defined conditions: if such facilities have not been used for their intended purpose for at least ten years, have not been transferred to the ownership of a water users’ organization, and no public-private partnership procedure has been initiated regarding them. Thus, this specifically concerns individual infrastructure facilities, not water bodies.
Separately, there is a false claim circulating that the law allegedly abolishes environmental impact assessments.
In reality, it provides a special exception only for the operation of existing state-owned facilities assigned to the operator, within the limits of the existing design capacity for water supply, transportation, or drainage. Essentially, this concerns the operation of infrastructure built prior to 2017, not new construction activities. At the same time, the law separately provides for the operator’s investment programs, which may include new construction, reconstruction, restoration, and major repairs. It is precisely these measures that will be subject to an environmental impact assessment in the cases and in the manner prescribed by law.
The claim regarding privileged access to water for certain users also does not align with the law’s provisions.
The law is based on the premise that the operator must provide services to water users on equal terms. Its provisions do not imply the establishment of a discriminatory or arbitrary water use regime.
The issue of financing requires separate attention.
The law does not introduce budgetary support for land reclamation from scratch, as this sector is currently funded by the state. What is new is this: following the establishment of operators, a three-year transition period is provided for the partial financing of their economic activities. This means that the law establishes a transitional model under which budgetary support is to be phased out, since the transition period itself is limited to three years, and the subsequent model is oriented toward the self-financing of operators.
The practical significance of the law also lies in the fact that it creates a legal framework for a special procedure for decommissioning engineering infrastructure facilities of land reclamation systems. This is important not only for asset accounting but also for environmentally sound decisions regarding systems that are no longer relevant. If physical dismantling could cause harm, such a facility may be decommissioned without dismantling. This is precisely what opens the possibility for obsolete drainage systems or parts thereof to begin being decommissioned and, where warranted, restored to their natural state.
Thus, Law No. 4795-IX does not abolish state management of water resources, does not remove canals of national importance from state ownership, does not legalize the privatization of natural water bodies, and does not abolish environmental procedures.
Its essence lies in changing the model of management and operation of state land reclamation infrastructure, transitioning to a new financing structure, and creating a legal framework for the orderly decommissioning of systems that have become obsolete.
