Denmark has allocated €7.2 million to restore the water supply infrastructure in Mykolaiv's Korabelny neighborhood as a pilot project for similar works throughout the southern Ukrainian city.
The project aims to restore freshwater access, damaged in an attack shortly after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, said the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO), which is responsible for the project.
The water supply in the district of 70,600 residents suffers leakages as high as 40%, said NEFCO, an international financial institution founded by the governments of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. New wells will be installed and aging pipes will be replaced, it said.
"The Korabelnyi district in the city of Mykolaiv has been chosen as a demonstration area for the recovery and reconstruction of the entire water supply system of the city of Mykolaiv," NEFCO said in a communique. "This residential district was selected due to its high population density and large number of multistorey buildings, as well as the current challenges with the water distribution network."
NEFCO said residents of the district depend on emergency water supplies delivered by truck, desalinated water from the Dnieper-Bug estuary, and hastily drilled boreholes, often carrying water for kilometers.
Denmark is also funding another water reconstruction project in Mykolaiv through the Danida Sustainable Infrastructure Finance (DSIF) and expects to announce a tender this month, NEFCO said.
The Danish government is focusing its Ukraine reconstruction aid on Mykolaiv, a port city and transport hub of about 400,000 residents on the Black Sea. The country announced last year that it will contribute 1.2 billion Danish kroner ($173 million) in grants and loans to the reconstruction of Ukraine this year, mainly to Mykolaiv.
Under the Danish plan, called "a model for Ukraine's post-war recovery" by the blog of the Kennan Institute of the US Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Denmark has also opened a diplomatic office in Mykolaiv. The office is, in part, meant to help coordinate the efforts of Danish companies seeking work on the reconstruction.
