Odesa could run out of water in 10 years; a new water pipeline needs to be built, says Sukhomlyn

Serhiy Sukhomlyn, Head of the State Agency for Recovery, at the Ukraine Recovery Conference, July 2025, Rome. Photo: ‘NikVesti’

Serhii Sukhomlyn, Head of the State Agency for Recovery and Infrastructure Development, says that in 10–15 years’ time, Odesa could be left without drinking water. He expressed his desire to build a new main water supply pipeline for the city.

The head of the State Agency for Recovery made this statement in an interview with Novyny.LIVE, according to NikVesti.

According to Serhii Sukhomlyn, water for Odesa could be sourced from the mouth of the Danube. The Agency is currently working with the World Bank on a feasibility study for the Odesa — Reni water main.

In the long term, he envisages that such a water pipeline could supply water not only to Odesa but also to Kherson.

«I would like to build a very large water pipeline for Odesa and Kherson. I said a year ago that in 10–15 years’ time, Odesa could be left without water, without drinking water. We are currently working with the World Bank on the feasibility study for the construction of the Odesa — Reni pipeline. And it is precisely from the mouth of the Danube that water could be drawn and supplied to Odessa, and then on to Kherson,» he said.

Serhii Sukhomlyn believes that the new water infrastructure could be significant not only for the supply of drinking water. According to him, access to water for irrigation could increase crop yields in the Odesa region by two or three times and create new opportunities for the development of the south.

Among such opportunities, he even mentioned the construction of a new city — with infrastructure that could be designed from scratch.

«Such projects drive regional development, because land irrigation would mean crop yields in the Odesa region two to three times higher than they are today. This means the development and construction of new towns. It would open up entirely new prospects for this region: building a new town. It’s simply a dream, I think, for anyone: to build a completely new city from scratch without the problems we’ve inherited from the Soviet Union regarding heating, water supply, urban infrastructure planning and so on. So, a new city and a very large water supply system. That would be brilliant,» said Serhii Sukhomlyn.

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It is worth noting that Serhii Sukhomlyn, head of the State Agency for the Restoration and Development of Infrastructure of Ukraine, has announced his decision to step down. He submitted his resignation on 29 July. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is due to approve his resignation.

As a reminder, in Biliaivka, in the Odesa region, local social media groups reported a suspected accident on the water pipeline that supplies Odesa with water. Footage released online shows a severe water leak — a powerful jet of water is gushing from the ground.

The water pipeline for Mykolaiv. A brief history

It has been more than three years since Russian troops damaged the water pipeline that supplied Mykolaiv with water. Since then, the city, with a population of nearly half a million, has been left without a centralised supply of high-quality water.

Throughout this time, the people of Mykolaiv have been receiving water from a backup source, which raises many questions about the quality of this water and its salt content. The salt water has damaged 1,200 kilometres of the city’s water supply network. Borys Dudenko, director of «Mykolaivvodokanal», stated that it is impossible to replace the entire length of the network that was damaged by the influx of salt water.

For a long time, representatives of central and local government sought ways to restore the drinking water supply in Mykolaiv. A final decision was reached in 2024: a new water main will be laid from Nova Odesa, with funding allocated from the state budget.

The regional reconstruction service even selected contractors who would work on a ‘design-build’ basis. These were three companies, each responsible for one of the three sections of the works: «Ukrtransmist», «Rostdorstroi» and «Avtostrada». However, both the client and the construction contractors were subsequently changed. The client for the construction of the new water main became the Infrastructure Restoration and Development Service in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and the contractor was the «Avtostrada» group of companies.

The new water pipeline for Mykolaiv was commissioned on 7 October 2025 — it was connected to the water utility’s networks.