Water seminar report

 Report of the visit of the Ukrainian Delegation to The Netherlands

 February 9 – 13 2006

Declaration

From February 10 – 13 Ukraine and Netherlands Delegations met in The Netherlands in Zwolle to investigate the possibilities for a closer cooperation on Water for Food and Ecosystems in both countries. The meeting was conducted in a friendly and harmonious atmosphere (See annexed programme).

The results of the presentations and the plenary discussions are attached to this document.

 The Delegation advises their respective Governments to continue the cooperation. It is suggested to have the next meeting in July 2006 in Ukraine to discuss the progress and particularities on the subjects of:

• Policy formulation and implementation for IWRM with particular focus on Water for Food and Ecosystems;
• Organization of stakeholder consultations in Ukraine at various levels to consolidate the achievements of the ongoing cooperation (Water management reform in the Republic of Crimea as a pilot);
• To communicate the objectives and results of the cooperation to all relevant levels concerning the activities defined for the period until July 2006 (Annexed to this document).

Chairman Ukrainian Delegation,                        Vice Chairman Dutch delegation          Ivan Demchak                                                            Sybe Schaap

                                                Chris Kalden

1                  Minutes of the meeting

 (Minutes of the Ukrainian – Dutch Water Seminar in Zwolle February 2006)

 Friday February 10 2006:

 Mr Kalden:

Developments explaining and promoting the Dutch interest in Ukraine are:

• The enlargement of the European Union makes Ukraine our neighbour
• Minister Veerman of Agriculture expressed his interest in visiting Ukraine
• The strong democratization move in Ukraine during and after the last elections increased our interest in Ukraine

 Mr Demchak:

The interest of Ukraine for The Netherlands can be explained as follows:

• Ukraine is looking for the European experiences and wishes to implement the positive ones
• Ukrainian agriculture is financially not well developed and the Ukrainian Government wants to take measures to attract foreign capital
• Ukrainian agriculture has a huge potential; of the foreign investment of 250 million ˆ, about 20 million ˆ is from The Netherlands
• Major crops on the increase in Ukraine are sunflower, soybean and rapeseed for which Ukraine is looking for expertise and investment. Also existing crops such as wheat and maize have a larger potential than its present performance.
• Also in animal husbandry (milk and pigs) new technology is needed
• Irrigation is in financial problems in Ukraine and the seminar is kindly invited to help in finding solutions
• President Yushenko is planning to visit The Netherlands in June 2006

Subjects proposed for discussion in the Advisory Panel are:

• Development of inter-sectoral policies on water for food and ecosystems
• Development of agricultural markets
• Attracting investment and reducing investors’ risks
• Introducing integrated water management in the rural areas
• Development of rural areas and land consolidation under land privatization
• Cooperation of the private and public sectors
• Development of research techniques and establishing strong links between research, education  and extension

The proposed methods of working with the Advisory Panel are:

• Open discussion of problems and ways of solving them
• Sharing experience and potential of both countries in solving the problems that are of mutual interest
• Organizing workgroups for implementing joint work plan also in joint projects.

Mr Kalden:

Water has many functions (agriculture, transport, drinking water, safety, ecology, biodiversity). Maybe the answer is in integrated water management. Maybe Ukraine has a good opportunity now to reform the water sector and develop its water resources carefully. The Dutch experiences, if useful, is available.

 Mr Schellinkhout:

Explanation of the Partners for Water Programme. This is a subsidy fund, brought together by 6 Dutch Ministries (30 million ˆ for four years) to be spend in 42 countries. The subsidies will be given to Dutch organizations to stimulate them to work in these foreign countries.

Mr Kalden:

The special feature of this Programme may be that 6 Ministries work together on the subject of water and created a common fund for this.

 Mr Kovalenko:

Explanation of the experiences gained in the Ukrainian – Dutch Watermuk project on sustainable irrigated agriculture. The project worked on scientific issues, but also and foremost on creating a dialogue at national, regional and local level. Stakeholders were challenged to think about their own solutions for their problems. One of the recommendations was to extend the dialogue to the international level and to create a Ukrainian – Dutch Panel.

Subjects proposed for discussion in the Advisory Panel are:

• Knowledge dissemination related to modern research methods in the framework of joint integrated research projects
• Establishment of an uniform information system  for implementation of integrated projects
• Participation of Ukrainian knowledge institutions in joint international projects
• How to get access to international knowledge and experience
• Cooperation in the development of modern materials and technical basis for research
• Training courses for scientists in the domain of modern research methods

Mr Kalden:

Ukraine has more experience with irrigation than the Dutch. If the question is on how to do things we can share experiences. The Netherlands has more experience in policy making and integrated water resources management than in irrigation.

Mr Demchak:

Deputy Prime Minister Melnik has his part of the Panel ready.

 Mr Schaap:

Explanation of local water management in The Netherlands. The State does what needs to be done on national level and Water Boards do what can be done on local level. Water Boards are self governing, self financing democratic institutions. They have three functions: safety against flooding, water quantity control and water quality control. For each of these functions inhabitants have to pay according to the benefits they draw.

Mr Demchak:

De-central water management is needed in Ukraine. We need to know more about the Dutch experience, so that we can select the positive parts for adoption.

 Mr Radchenko:

Explaining the present land property situation in Ukraine. About 50% of the land (farm land) is now in private hands. The other 50% is property of the State and municipalities. Private ownership is in the form of shares. About 60% of these new land owners are retired people and form larger farming units (about 20% in the form of private companies; 30% as Ltd’s, 10% as joint stock companies and 20% as cooperative farms). A new form is what is now called “farms”. These are family farms with land property that also rent land from shareholders. There are a number of problems with land ownership that could be discussed in the Ukrainian – Dutch forum:

• The short duration of land rent prohibits investments
• Sale and rent of land by shareholders is difficult due to the scale of existing infrastructure (roads, irrigation equipment)
• Asset management (irrigation infrastructure) serving more than one land owner must be organized
• A mortgage law has been adopted, but practical experience is missing

Mr Kalden:

These four subjects could very well be discussed in the Ukrainian – Dutch cooperation context 

Mr Drobot:

Of the 30 million ha of agricultural land, about 10 million ha has low productivity due to erosion and degradation and should be taken out of cultivation. These lands should be transformed to pasture and forest. About 80% of this 10 million ha is now in private hands.

Mr Kalden:

How to convince private farmers to change land use could certainly be an issue on the agenda 

Mr. Van der Sommen:

Explanation of the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP). NWP is an organisation that could be seen as a branch organisation for water. NWP has Government organizations as member, private companies, knowledge institutions and also Non Governmental Organizations. NWP has been set up with the objective to better serve the outside world with water services (knowledge and hardware). As such NWP can be seen as a Public Private Partnership.

Mr Van der Sommen offered assistance to create a Ukrainian Water Partnership, if required. 

Mr. Zemba:

Explanation of water management in Ukraine. This is still centrally organized. The total asset value of water infrastructure at State level is about 2 billion ˆ. Total asset value of water infrastructure at municipality level is 1.5 million ˆ. Maintenance at State level is insufficient and at municipality level almost absent. Another major emerging problem is waterlogging in certain areas (about 700,000 ha is seriously waterlogged). Mr. Zemba proposes four actions for discussion in the Advisory Panel:

• Installation of pilots for Water User Associations in Crimea and in Kherson
• Introduction of integrated water management in the Republic of Crimea
• Involvement of the private sector in investments in infrastructure
• Introduction of integrated water management for irrigation systems in Kherson region to counteract the waterlogging phenomena

Mr. Kalden:

The reforms implemented and proposed seem alright, the issue is more how to deal with it. Compared to Ukraine the experience in The Netherlands is only small.

For involving the private sector in investments we have to create the right conditions: we have to seduce them to do it.

Mr. Demchak:

This is exactly the position of the Ukrainian Government. Investments in the water sector are required and this needs the private sector. 

Mr. Kalden:

Please select items for the agenda during the coming days. These will be discussed then on Monday 13^th for approval and discussion with Minister Veerman.

Monday February 10 2006:

 Mr Schaap:

Recapitulation of the previous meeting and excursion days.

 Mr. Roest:

Presentation (recapitulation) of the issues brought forward by the Ukrainian Delegation, issues brought forward by the Dutch Delegation and issues collected during the weekend. 

Split in two groups, one on land issues and one on water issues to discuss and select priority items.

2                  Priority items for future water seminar meetings

The objective for the Ukrainian – Dutch Cooperation is to exchange information and advice on development and management of comprehensive strategies for policy development on Water for Food and Ecosystems in both countries in association with all stakeholders at local, regional and national level. 

The challenge for the Ukrainian – Dutch cooperation is to define the necessary steps to achieve the above objective, both on the long and short term. 

Long term objectives and activities to be achieved with highest priority (Monday session):

• Transfer of (irrigation) water management to end users on the lowest appropriate level (Water User Associations), including the financial and investment aspects.
• Integration and transfer of district water management to new “Water Board” like organizations, including the financial and investment aspects (start with Dzhankoy and Kherson)
• Review, develop (if necessary) and introduce policies on integrated water resources management (start with Crimea).
• Initiate and promote cooperation between Ukrainian and Dutch Universities and Research Institutes.
• Review the land privatization and land use policies and processes to improve and amend these policies and possibly formulate new land consolidation policies and procedures.
• Create an enabling environment to reduce investors’ risks.

 For the activity agenda until the next Ukrainian – Dutch water seminar meeting (expected in July 2006 in Ukraine) the following short term actions have been agreed:

• Workshop on financial mechanisms (private sector Ukraine and Netherlands: mutual cooperation and cooperation with farms), PPP² at local level (Ton Verhagen)
• First steps towards water policy analysis in Ukraine and The Netherlands at national level (Renske Peters, Victor Zemba)
• Establish two water user associations by bringing the local stakeholders together: one in Crimea and one in Kherson (Olga Zhovtonog)
• Start procedures for twinning arrangements (ENPI):

-     Address the EU on experiences with twinning arrangements (Koen Roest)

-          Twinning of Dutch water board with (Dzhankoy) irrigation district (Keimpe Sinnema)

-          Twinning of Universities and Research Institutes (Wim Cofino)

-     Twinning of State Land Committee to Dutch Service for Land and Water Management (Radchenko)

·         Propose a structure and mandate of the Advisory Panel (Mathieu Pinkers):

-     Propose the “back office” structure for the Advisory Panel (Olga Zhovtonog and Koen Roest)

-     Propose the “front office” structure for the Advisory Panel (Peter Kovalenko and Mathieu Pinkers)

·         Inform the High Council of the Ukrainian Parliament on the outcome of the meetings in Zwolle/The Hague (Peter Kovalenko)

·         Bring the local stakeholders in Dzhankoy together in order to create water user associations (Olga Zhovtonog)

·         Regional stakeholder consultation on integrated water management

-     Invite regional (also private sector) stakeholders to give their opinion, discuss results and see what can be done on national level (Nataliya Pozozheva)

-     Document the existing ideas and bottlenecks from local, regional and national consultations (Olga Zhovtonog)

• Inform and commit the high level stakeholders on the process (Vitaly Drobot)

Broad dissemination of the knowledge and information in papers, internet, etc (Mathieu Pinkers and Natalya Pozozheva)

• Start with a knowledge exchange (Ukraine – Netherlands) platform on internet, supported by a knowledge management system (Wim Cofino)

-     For farmers (Natalya Pogozheva and Koen Roest)

-     For agro industries (Natalya Pogozheva and Mathieu Pinkers)

-     For Water Boards (Keimpe Sinnema)

-     For NGO’s (Olga Zhovtonog)

-     For knowledge institutes (Olga Zhovtonog, Wim Cofino)

3                  Agenda of the meeting

Programme visit Ukrainian Delegation to The Netherlands (9 – 14 February 2006)

Thursday February 9

18:00    Arrival at Schiphol (KL1385).

Reception (VIP room) by Elsbeth Akkerman (Director European Cooperation LNV), Mathieu Pinkers, Ton Verhagen and Mr. Kupchyshyn (Ambassador).

Friday February 10

9:00      Check out of hotel and departure to Zwolle

            Excursion/sight seeing: new polders

            Accompanied by Jennifer Hagenstein and Mathieu Pinkers (LNV)

11:00    Arrival in hotel Campanile in Zwolle

12:00    Lunch (Campanile)

13:00    Business delegation leaves to Ede-Wageningen

13:00    Reception at the Water Board Groot Salland

13:30    First session of Water Seminar

Presentation of items by Ukrainian Delegation, followed by discussion/comments by Dutch delegation.

Presentation of items by Dutch organizations “Partners for Water”, “Netherlands Water Partnership” and “Dutch Association of Water Boards”, followed by discussion/comments by Ukrainian Delegation

20:00    Diner in restaurant “De Handschoen”

Saturday February 11

Excursion programme (combined official + business delegation):

9:00      Departure from Campanile hotel

9:30      Arrival at experimental biological milk farm “Aver Heino”

            Introduction of farm and research

10:00    Farm excursion (facilities, water management object, nature management)

11:00    Introduction Annemarie Moons: Role of de-central Government (Province) in Water, Agriculture and Spatial Planning

11:30    Introduction Piet Jansen: Explanation rural development project “Raarhoek-Veldhoek” and role of Province

12:00    Introduction Chris Griffioen: Explanation water management (EU Water Framework Directive, Flood Management and experiment “Farming with water”)

12:30    Lunch with biological products

14:00    Excursion to Rural Development Project “Raarhoek-Veldhoek” and visit of water projects

18:00    Diner at Campanile

Sunday February 11

9:00      Excursion through polders “Mastenbroek” and “Koekoek” with explanation of history and development of greenhouse culture.

9:45      Arrival at rubber dam “Ramspol”

            Introduction (and movie) about Ramspol by Sybe Schaap

11:15    Visit of water inlet structure “Noordoostpolder”

            Introduction by Harmen Dijkstra about history (land reclamation and land privatization)

12:30    Lunch in restaurant “Wapen van Ens”

14:00    Visit of Vegetable and Flower (bulbs) company VECO.

            Introduction by Jos Veendrick about the company and organization. Visit of the premises.

16:00    Visit of cooperative potato company AGRICO

            Explanation of organization and activities of the company by Jan Dekker

18:00    Diner in restaurant “Het Achterhuis” in Urk

Monday February 12 (official by LNV)

è                Separate program for the business delegation

9:00      Departure from hotel to Water Board

9:30      Third session Water Seminar

            Work in groups and plenary to decide on priority items for Ukrainian – Dutch cooperation.

12:00    Lunch at Water Board Groot Salland

15:30    Visit Mr. Chris Kalden (part of the delegation only)

            Third Water seminar session (5 Ukrainian + 5 Dutch officials)

19:00    Diner offered by Minister Veerman of Agriculture and Food Quality

Tuesday February 14

9:00      Departure from hotel to Schiphol Airport

9:45      Arrival VIP room, accompanied by Ambassador of Ukraine and Ton Verhagen (LNV)

11:05    Departure with KL 1386

4                  Participants

 Ukrainian official delegation:

1. Ivan Demchak, First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy (Head of delegation)
2. Constantin Radchenko, Deputy Head State Committee for Land Resources
3. Victor Zemba, State Water Committee
4. Peter Kovalenko, Academician, Director Institute on Hydraulic Engineering and Land Reclamation
5. Vitaliy Drobot, Assistant of Vice Prime Minister Melnik
6. Nataliya Pogozheva – vice-president of Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation
7. Olga Zhovtonog, Deputy Director IHELR (secretariat of delegation)
8. Vasily Gurin (Rector National University for Water Resources and Environment)

 Dutch official delegation

1. Chris Kalden, Secretary General LNV (Head of Dutch Delegation)
2. Sybe Schaap, Chairman Dutch Union of Water Boards
3. Renske Peters, Ministry of Public Works
4. Ton Verhagen, Netherlands Embassy, Kiev
5. Harm-Evert Waalkens, Dutch Parliamentary Committee for Agriculture

 Dutch invited participants

1. Aris Schellinkhout, Partners for Water Programme
2. Jeroen van der Sommen, Director Netherlands Water Partnership
3. Wim Cofino, Wageningen-UR, Wageningen Water Platform
4. Koen Roest, Alterra
5. Keimpe Sinnema, Water Board Groot Salland
6. Mathieu Pinkers, LNV

Business delegation:

1. Andrey Gogolev, Terra Ltd, irrigated agriculture

2.   Yuriy Yatcevilov, Fregat Irrigation Equipment Company

3. Victor Torbenko, Fregat Irrigation Equipment Company
4. Vasiliy Kozak, Director Gardens of Bukovyna
5. Volodomyr Ivanyshin, Research Institute for testing machineries
6. Yury Zabela, Director Kyivska farm
7. Mr. Vasylovich, Director Druzhba horticulture Ltd

 Weekend Programme participants:

1. Annemarie Moons, Province of Noord Brabant
2. Rob Uittelinden,  Dutch Union of Water Boards
3. Madeleine van Mansfeld, Alterra
4. Gerbert Roerink, Alterra
5. Guus Schutjes, Governement Service for Land and Water
6. Ben Roelofsen, Dwars Hederik and Verhey (DHV BV)
7. Harmen Dijkstra, Water Board ZuiderZeeLand
8. Tanya Bodognova, Water Board Groot Salland
9. Bertus Jonkman, Water Board Groot Salland
10. Wim Porte, Water Board Groot Salland
11. Gerben Tromp, Water Board Groot Salland

Annex 1

Progress of the March 2005 workshop action plan

Background:

In March 2005 a workshop was implemented in Ukraine on the subject of an “Integrated approach for policy development on Water for Food and Ecosystems in Ukraine”. A number of action plans were developed.

Activity progress report by Olga Zhovtonog on February 13

1.         Development of legal provisions for integrated water and land resources management (Water Code, Land Code and Forest Code) by the Agricultural Parliamentary Committee (Olena Bazaluk and Ivan Tomich)

Progress:

The agricultural parliamentary committee has been contacted frequently. They expressed the wish to cooperate closely with Dutch parliamentarians. The legislation on land, water, agriculture, and landscape has been discussed in Parliamentary Hearings.

2.         Organization of information management in agriculture by the National Association of Extension Services “Dorada” (Roman Schmidt and Olga Zhovtonog)

Progress:

A proposal for cooperation between Dorada, Rive University, Kherson University and Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences has been drafted and discussed within these organizations.

3.         Facilitation of the introduction and implementation of policies on integrated water resources management by State Water Committee (Alexander Romanov and Olga Zhovtonog)

Progress:

Publications on these subjects have been placed in the Journal of the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences and in the Government Newspaper. Presentations on the subject have been given at National Conferences.

4.         Water quality management in ecosystems by Kherson State Agrarian University (Leonid Dobryanskiy and Volodymyr Morozov)

Progress:

Progress is included in action 2 and action 9.

5.         Intergovernmental Committee Water for Food and Ecosystems by Ministry of Agrarian Policy (Ivan Demchak, Peter Kovalenko and Olga Zhovtonog)

Progress:

The constitutional documents for the Intergovernmental Committee (Advisory Board) have been drafted and discussed in the Cabinet of Ministers. The Ukrainian part (Coordination Council) of the Intergovernmental Committee has been appointed. The present water seminar is the next step to arrive at this Intergovernmental Committee.

6.         Ukrainian National Council on Water for Food and Ecosystems by Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (Vitaliy Drobot, Peter Kovalenko and Olga Zhovtonog)

Progress:

This is the Ukrainian Inter-ministerial Committee on Water for Food and Ecosystems. Its composition is as follows:

• Mr. Yuriy Melnik – Head of Delegation, Prime Minister on Agriculture
• Mr. Ivan Demchak – Deputy Head of Delegation, Deputy Minister of MAP
• Mr. Anatoliy Gritcenko   - Deputy Minister of Environment (should be clarified)
• Mr. Alexander   Romanov – Deputy Head of State Committee on Water Management
• Mr. Constantin  Radchenko – Deputy Head of State Committee on Land Use
• Mr. Peter Kovalenko  -  Academician-secretary of Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian sciences, Director of the Institute on Hydraulic Engineering and Land Reclamation
• Leonid Kazachenko – President of Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation, Agricultural advisor of the President of Ukraine
• Mr. Vitaliy Drobot – Assistant of Yuriy Melnik
• Mrs.Olga Zhovtonog – Deputy Director of IHELR

7.   Implementation strategic planning of environment (SPE) at State and local level in the sustainable development context by Ministry of Environmental Protection (Yaroslav Movchan)

Progress:

Status unknown

8.         Credit and investment in agriculture and water management by Ukrainian Entrepreneurs’ League (Victor Nosach and Leonid Kirichenko)

Progress:

Stakeholder consultations took place and a proposal for a workshop between Dutch and Ukrainian private sector representatives has been drafted and submitted to the Dutch Embassy by NGO Primavera.

9.         Integrated Land and Water Resources management for Flood prevention (Kherson region; pilot project) by State Committee on Water Management and Kherson oblast water management department (Aleksander Romanov, Bespalov, Belokon and Voldymyr Morozov)

Progress:

A local multidisciplinary working group on integrated water resources management has been composed. Relevant data have been collected by this work group and a draft project proposal on IWRM was drafted. The stakeholders in the region have been consulted on this draft project proposal.

10.       Implementation of organic agriculture by Ministry of Agrarian Policy (Vitaliy Drobot).

Progress:

No activities have been implemented on this action point.

Annex 2

List of potential issues for the Water seminar agenda.

home