Lithuanian parlt kills idea to fund water supply rebuilding in Ukraine through tariff

VILNIUS – Lithuania's parliamentary committees on Wednesday ended their discussions on a proposal to fund the reconstruction of Ukraine's water supply system through the introduction of an additional water tariff for Lithuanian residents after Environment Minister Simonas Gentvilas, who proposed it, withdrew the draft amendment.

"It would be legally difficult to implement it," the minister said at a meeting of the Seimas Committee on Rural Affairs on Wednesday.

The amendment would have allowed companies, with the approval of municipal councils, to add one euro cent to the price of a cubic meter of water for residents, and the collected additional funds would have been transferred to Ukraine.

However, Viktoras Pranckietis, the committee chairman, pointed out that more than 400,000 cubic meters of drinking water are used in Lithuania every day, meaning that only some 4,000 euros would be collected.

Gentvilas told the committee the Lithuanian Association of Water Suppliers, which unites 54 smaller water suppliers, initiated the amendment.

However, Vandens Jega, an association uniting the country's three largest water suppliers – Vilniaus Vandenys (Vilnius Waters), Kauno Vandenys (Kaunas Waters) and Klaipedos Vandenys (Klaipeda Waters) – were against the idea.