National Irrigation Project of the South

Ukraine is on the threshold of key changes in the agricultural sector and land relations. Over the last two years, more basic changes have been implemented in the country’s agricultural system than over the previous 10 years. And today, the agricultural sector of Ukraine provides 12% of GDP and about 40% of foreign exchange earnings from exports.

Roman Leshchenko, Minister of Agrarian Policy and co-organizer of the SDS Forum is convinced that the Ukrainian agricultural sector today is focused on three key reforms: land reform, the national irrigation project in Ukraine, and the introduction of an effective agricultural insurance institution for farmers. Therefore, the strategic goal of the Government for 2021 is to provide Ukrainian farmers with free access to all agricultural infrastructure: land, irrigation systems, financing, education, research and development, storage capacity and logistics services. A road map has already been formed and there is full support for the executive and legislative branches of government.

Therefore, the organizers of the Southern Development Strategy Forum are actively drawing the attention of Ukrainian and international investors to the development of a reclamation system in the southern regions. At the same time, Roman Leshchenko announced an action plan, during a meeting with farmers in the Kherson region, to combat drought in southern Ukraine. The plans for the next 3 years are to implement the National Irrigation and Land Reclamation Project in the south with further scaling of the project to the whole country.

“This year we are starting a large-scale irrigation and reclamation project in the south of Ukraine. It is among the priorities of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy for 2021 along with land reform“,

said Roman Leshchenko, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine

In addition, according to the official, the issue of “lack of investment in infrastructure and the decline of Ukraine’s water facilities” needs to be addressed. The state has reserve funds for financial support of projects, in particular through the involvement of international financial institutions such as the EBRD, the World Bank, and IFC. This will give the agricultural business in the South of Ukraine the opportunity to get the necessary development and stable demand on the world market.