On September, 30 – October, 2, 2020 World Trade Center Moscow hosted All-Russian Water Congress 2020, the main theme of which this year was: "Water resources: national priorities and challenges".
The Congress assembled on its platform more than 1000 participants from 65 regions of Russia and representatives of Russian Federal Agencies: Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources, Ministry of agriculture, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, FAS (Federal Antimonopoly Service), Ministry of economic development, Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport, Ministry of communications.
The business program has included 25 round tables and 3 plenary sessions. The themes of the round tables and thematic sections, which featured more than 150 speakers and experts, were the implementation of the environmental agenda of national goals of Russia's development until 2030, adjustment of the national project “Ecology” activities for the conservation and rehabilitation of water objects, increase of use of use of water resources by water-intensive industries (energy sector, agriculture, housing) efficiency, investment and improve the economic status of the water management complex modernization of hydraulic and port infrastructure, reclamation systems, introduction of Russian environmental technologies for rational water use, as well as solving the problems of low-water and water-deficient regions and providing the population with clean drinking water.
The main plenary session was broadcast live on the electronic page of the Ministry of construction of Russia, as well as in a number of federal media, which attracted thousands of online participants from all over Russia.
Speaking at the plenary session of the "National projects as drivers of water sector development. Adjustment of goals and objectives until 2030" Congress, Vladimir Yakushev, Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities of Russia, said that the commissioning of more than two thousand water supply facilities in Russia will provide high-quality drinking water to about five million residents of the country by 2025. He also noted that large-scale financial support from the federal budget will restart the housing and utilities sector, make it attractive for private investors and allow implementing more large-scale projects. The “Clean Water” federal project implemented by the Ministry provides 242.6 billion rubles, of which 146.4 billion rubles – funds from the federal budget, the rest of the money is added by regions and investors.
At the same time, Vladimir Yakushev stressed that it is important not only to use water rationally, but also to take care of this important life-support resource after it has been used for household needs: "After passing all the stages of preparation and consumption, water should also be returned to the natural environment in a purified form. “Improvement of the Volga river” federal project is aimed at achieving this goal: its implementation in 16 regions will reduce the share of polluted wastewater discharged into the Volga by three times ‑ from 3.17 to 1.05 cubic meters per year."
140 billion rubles are provided for the implementation of the "Improvement of the Volga river" federal project, of which 85.6 billion rubles - is the federal budget. The funding rest consists of the consolidated budget of the regions and funds from extra-budgetary sources.
The plenary session discussion was also attended by Chairman of the State Duma Committee on natural resources, property and land relations Nikolai Nikolaev, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on agrarian and food policy and environmental management Alexey Mayorov, head of the Federal service for supervision of consumer rights protection and human welfare Anna Popova, Governor of the Stavropol Krai Vladimir Vladimirov, and Minister of natural resources and environment of Russia Dmitry Kobylkin.
The head of the Ministry of natural resources and environment of Russia noted that in Russia, close attention is paid to protecting the population from the negative impact of water, rational use of water resources, as well as reducing the anthropogenic impact on water bodies. He also stressed: “The assessment of the results of the “Ecology” national project will take into account a new indicator – socially significant result. This will make the achievements of the national project transparent and understandable for Russian citizens."
Sergey Yakhnyuk, Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, made a report on the problems and prospects for the development of agricultural land reclamation in Russia. In addition, he said that today the State Duma is developing a new law "On land reclamation", the need for which is long overdue. He also noted that in parallel, it is necessary to step up work on bringing into line with the already adopted and current new laws on land, water, ecology and other norms and rules in the field of land reclamationЩа In addition, a broad international agenda has become an important part of the Congress events. Ambassador extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea to Russia Lee Sok-bae presented the Korean policy in the field of water management and plans for the development of Korean-Russian cooperation in the field of water management, experience in water resources management, implementation of "green" technologies and digital solutions in the water sector, as well as the use of innovative environmental equipment by industrial water users.
As part of his speech, he noted: "Since ancient times, our ancestors have considered forest conservation and water management as a priority for the well-being of the Korean people. Russia takes care of water resources. Understanding the importance of water resources, Russia has long been implementing Federal programs, including water strategies for the period up to 2030 and an action plan for its implementation for effective management and use of water resources. <...> The Republic of Korea considers it important to implement the following measures: water management, tightening of measures to find the causes of climate change, tightening of drinking water standards, and integrating management of water quantity and quality. The government has allocated $ 900 million to implement the project for the next year. At the same time, the Republic of Korea is actively implementing a smart water management system developed on the basis of other information and communication technologies of the country's water management complex at such facilities as water supply and sewerage facilities and others, monitoring the quantity and quality of water resources based on smart sensors. Checking the safety of structures using drones and creating an integrated water management system based on artificial intelligence and big data allows us to prevent and respond to natural disaster threats in a timely manner, including droughts and floods. At the same time, such technologies contribute to improving the efficiency of water resources management. In addition, in July last year, a national water management cluster was established in Daegu city in order to develop and implement innovative water technologies, support domestic companies to enter world markets, and develop the water management industry as a whole. The cluster has already attracted dozens of residents, competitive small and medium-sized and foreign companies. It is planned to join more than 100 organizations and firms. <...> I echo that sentiment that Korea and Russia share the opinion on the need to develop mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries in the field of water management."
Yakir Davidson, the Head of the Trade and Economic Mission of the Embassy of the State of Israel in the Russian Federation, spoke about the country's investment experience in the development of water technologies and the water management complex. Germany, represented by the head of the representative office of the German Society for international Cooperation (GIC) GmbH in Russia, Yulia Grishchenkova, shared her achievements and practices on reducing the negative impact on water bodies at the event.
During the three days of the Congress in plenary meetings was attended by the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation on the issues of environmental activities, environment and transport Sergey Ivanov, Minister of natural resources and ecology of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kobylkin, Minister of construction and housing and communal services of the Russian Federation Vladimir Yakushev, head of the Federal service for supervision of consumer rights protection and human welfare Anna Popova, Deputy Minister of agriculture of the Russian Federation Dzhambulat Hatuov, Deputy Minister of industry and trade of the Russian Federation Vasily Osmakov, head of the Federal water resources Agency Dmitry Kirillov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on natural resources, property and land relations Nikolai Nikolaev, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on agricultural and food policy and environmental management Alexey Mayorov, Governor of the Stavropol Krai Vladimir Vladimirov, as well as representatives of the Ministry of economic development of the Russian Federation and the Federal Antimonopoly Service.
The event is organized by the Russian Association of water supply and sanitation. Mosvodokanal is a strategic partner this year.
At the moment, the Organizing Committee of Russian Water Congress forms the final resolution of the event, which will be sent to all relevant federal and regional authorities for further work on implementing the proposals and recommendations of the Congress participants.
Next year, Russian Water Congress is scheduled to be held in June 2021.