ANALYSIS OF METHODICAL APPROACHES TO THE FORMATION OF WATER TARIFFS FOR IRRIGATION AND COMPENSATION OF COSTS FOR RECLAMATION INFRASTRUCTURE: THE EXPERIENCE OF EU COUNTRIES

Abstract

The practice of EU countries on the establishment of water tariffs for irrigation of agricultural crops and the procedures for recouping funds spent on water supply for irrigation is considered. As the main sources of information for the manuscript were noted publications and regulatory documents of Ukraine, reports of EU bodies, and the World Bank, in which a critical analysis of pricing practices in irrigated agriculture in EU countries for 2005-2023 was carried out. The grouping of information on the area of irrigated land, the level of return of funds spent on water supply, and attention is paid to a methodical approach to the development of tariffs for water transportation. The interpretation of the reasons for the natural character, which were guided by state management bodies when applying economic tools for irrigation management in their territories, are presented. For certain countries with big areas of irrigated land (Italy, France, Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Romania), significant achievements of tariff formation and reimbursement of funds have been determined. Aspects of water tariff formation, water accounting, development of water user associations, and taxation of water fees are disclosed. countries were classified according to water pricing, taking into account the state of water resources and melioration systems, types of tariffs, pricing mechanisms, the state of return of funds spent on water supply due to tariffs, measurement of water volumes, as well as solving additional problems of applying economic tools in irrigated agriculture – institutional (administrative, legal) measures, the impact of water charges on the country’s agricultural economy, etc. Since the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) are the dominant approach in the implementation of tariff formation in irrigation in EU countries, the level of achievement of indicators of the quality of WFD implementation by countries was considered. It has been established that the vast majority of global practices for forming tariffs for water supply services for irrigation, capital investments in reclamation infrastructure, and its maintenance, show that they are based both on national interests and on the interest of water users and organizations that provide logistical support.