Sergiy Tigipko, a famous Ukrainian banker who has declared his intention to run for president, has said that the poor state of the country's municipal infrastructure threatens national security.
“The municipal infrastructure inherited from the Soviet Union
urgently needs renovation and investment. But officials obviously don’t
care about this,” Tigipko said, commenting on a fire at the Bortnychi
aeration station near Kyiv, the press service of the politician
reported.
The politician noted that the number of serious accidents at
wastewater plants is increasing. According to him, these accidents
damage the environment and threaten public safety. Every year such
accidents occur in Odesa, he said.
“The reasons for the disastrous state of municipal facilities I see
in the weakness of local budgets, and in corrupt leadership at many
enterprises of the housing and utilities services. These reasons
suggest a solution to the situation: public control from the side of
the population, full financing by local budgets, as well as the
allocation of not only costs, but also revenues to cover these costs,”
Tigipko said.
