ADMINISTRATION AND REGULATION OF WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION SERVICE SECTOR OF UKRAINE

The article deals with the sphere of services of water supply and sanitation of Ukraine as an object of public administration and regulation. The meaning of the notions "drinking water", "drinking water supply", "centralized water supply", "wastewater (sanitation)" and others are provided. The composition of water supply and sanitation services is analyzed. The questions of surface wastewater (water received and collected in the form of atmospheric precipitation), which are not included in the list of water supply and sanitation services, are considered. Modern models of management of enterprises of water supply and sanitation in Ukraine are considered, the overwhelming majority of which is direct communal management. The legal status and features of water supply and sanitation companies of communal property are determined. The peculiarities of realization of public-private partnership in the field of water supply and wastewater are considered, examples of existing lease / concession agreements of water supply and sanitation facilities are given. The legal principles of state regulation of the activities of water supply and sanitation enterprises and regulatory measures are considered. The legal principles and features of the state tariff policy in the field of water supply and wastewater are determined. The issues of quality of water supply and sanitation services, consumer rights protection and environmental regulation in the field of water supply and wastewater are considered. KEYWORDS

housing and communal services and water supply and sanitation, water supply and sanitation companies, being natural monopolists and having a guaranteed market for services, are loss-making, and the technical condition of their fixed assets requires significant investment. So far, at the state level, strategic development of the water supply and wastewater sector has not been defined, there are no clearly formulated mechanisms for creating conditions for balancing the interests of market participants, protecting consumers' interests in providing them with appropriate quality services at reasonable prices, creating conditions for the efficient functioning of water supply and sanitation companies, attraction of investments in the development of a water supply and sanitation economy, etc. And the fact that in the world practice the sphere of water supply and wastewater is one of the most attractive in terms of reliability and profitability of investments, only confirms the correctness of the chosen direction of research. In the main, this area of regulation was investigated by national scientists in technical and economic fields. In this regard, it seems necessary to systematize economic and legal research in the field of public administration and regulation of water supply and wastewater.
Purpose of the study: The main purpose of writing this article is to analyze the sphere of water supply and wastewater of Ukraine as an object of public administration and regulation.
Research results. The legal status of water supply and sanitation services in Ukraine at the national level is determined by the Law of Ukraine "On Drinking Water, Drinking Water Supply and WasteWater" (2012, January 10) (regulates the legal, economic and organizational principles of the functioning of the drinking water supply system, aimed at guaranteeing the population quality and safe for health the person with drinking water) and the Law of Ukraine "On Housing and Communal Services" (2004, June 24) (regulates relations arising in the process of provision and consumption of housing and communal services). The concept of "services for centralized water supply and sanitation" does not provide these Laws. However, the legislator has defined the sphere of drinking water, drinking water supply and wastwewater, installed its elements: drinking water, drinking water supply, sanitation, and opened it. "Drinking water" -water intended for human consumption (water, packed, from pump rooms, bottling points, mine wells and sinking sources), for use by consumers for physiological, sanitary, household and household needs, as well as for the production of products, requiring its use, the composition of which according to organoleptic, microbiological, parasitological, chemical, physical and radiation indicators meets hygiene requirements. At the same time, the legislator noted that drinking water is not considered a food product in the system of drinking water supply and in points of compliance with the quality of drinking water. In other words, the Law specifies that drinking water in the drinking water supply system is not a commodity. "Drinking water supply" -activities related to the production, transportation and supply of drinking water to consumers drinking water, protection of sources and drinking water supply systems. The legislator distinguishes centralized and decentralized drinking water supply.
"Non-centralized drinking water supply" -provision of individual consumers with drinking water from sources of drinking water supply, using water bottling stations (including mobile ones), the use of drinking water preparation plants (appliances) and the supply of packaged drinking water. "Centralized drinking water supply" -economic activity to provide consumers with drinking water with the help of a complex of objects, structures, distribution water supply networks, connected by a single technological process of production and transportation of drinking water. "Wastewater (sanitation)" -activities for the collection, transportation and treatment of sewage with the help of central sanitation or other sanitation and / or sewage treatment facilities. The legislator also identified a "centralized Wastewater (sanitation)" -economic activities for the removal and treatment of wastewater through a centralized sanitation system [21]. Thus, the production, transportation and supply of drinking water to consumers is defined as centralized water supply. A collection, transportation and treatment of sewage as sanitation.
At the same time, the legislator did not define the concept of "sanitation", their distribution to the sewage and surface, and, accordingly, did not resolve the issue of rainwater management. Consequently, the water obtained and collected in the form of atmospheric precipitation does not fall under the notion of sanitation. The law defines the system of centralized sanitation, as a set of technical means, including networks, structures, equipment (devices) for centralized sanitation and sewage treatment associated with a single technological process. In some settlements, sewage and surface sanitation systems are combined for the further general treatment of sewage [4, p.4].
Surface sanitation systems are defined as components of various objects of improvement of territories of settlements and beyond, the main purpose of which is engineering protection of territories from flooding and flooding. The purpose of the systems of surface sanitation is to ensure favorable living conditions of the population and the functioning of the infrastructure of settlements for the purpose of engineering protection of these areas from flooding and flooding with surface sanitation, collecting and discharging into the treatment facilities of the most contaminated part of the surface runoff formed during periods of rain, melting of snow or from a sink, in emergency situations with breakouts of water supply and sanitation collectors, leakage from reservoirs, extinguishing fires, with oil streets and roads, etc. [4, с.8, 37-38; 12].
The method of organization of provision of services for centralized water supply and sanitation and management of the water supply and sanitation system of cities is the result of historical transformations in the country from centralized direct state administration from the time of the USSR to direct communal management since the independence of Ukraine. By abandoning the state monopoly on water supply and sanitation companies, the state transferred them to communal ownership of local territorial bodies [23]. The vertical system was destroyed, and the creation of a local water supply and sanitation system was given to the discretion of local governments, which (as history and practice showed) were not ready for enterprise management. Such excessive fragmentation of the administrative-territorial units led to the fact that it was extremely difficult for local selfgovernment bodies to ensure stable economic development in territories that had small size or predominance in the demographic structure of part of the population of the working age [2]. As a matter of fact, local self-government bodies remained "one by one" with legal problems without proper legal support necessary for the functions of state regulation of subjects of natural monopolies; without proper technical and personnel support at the level of local state administrations, which are necessary for coordination of activities in the field of water supply and sanitation, planning of state financing of capital investments and ensuring the control of quality of drinking water supply.
Modern state of the water supply and sanitation system of Ukraine is serviced by 2716 water supply and sanitation enterprises mainly of communal property (except for cases when the ownership form is state, private or mixed), decentralized water supply and sanitation -enterprises of various forms of ownership [7]. In addition, objects of engineering infrastructure and urban amenities, including networks, facilities, equipment that are connected with the supply of water, gas, heat, as well as sewage and sanitation treatment, can not be privatized [22]. In accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Local Self-Government in Ukraine" (1997, May 21), water supply, waste management and wastewater treatment, and the control of the quality of drinking water relate to the powers of the executive bodies of village, town and city councils in the area of housing and communal services [19].
The predominant form of management of enterprises of water supply and sanitation in Ukraine is direct communal management. Under this form, water supply and sanitation companies are in communal ownership and subordination of local governments, which provides for the approval of annual plans for the operation of water supply and sanitation enterprises, volumes of production, norms of specific expenditures of fuel and energy resources, investment programs, norms (norms) of drinking water supply, restriction of drinking water supply to the level of ecological armor, etc. The specifics of the legal status of communal enterprises are defined by the Commercial and Civil Codes of Ukraine, by the articles of association of enterprises. Communal unitary enterprises have the following characteristics: economic organization unitary type; is created by a decision of the local self-government body (authorized by it) in an orderly manner on the basis of a separate part of communal property; the functions of the owner of the property in relation to the utility company are performed by the authorized body, ie the authority to which the management unit is a communal unitary enterprise (executive committee of the relevant local council, management / department of the executive committee); operates on the basis of property that is in communal ownership and is secured by such an enterprise on the right of economic management (communal commercial enterprise) or on the right of operational management (utility nonprofit enterprise); the statutory fund of a communal unitary enterprise must be formed prior to its registration as an economic entity by the authorized body; the minimum size of the statutory fund of the communal unitary enterprise shall be established by the relevant local council; the name of the communal unitary enterprise should contain the words "communal enterprise" and an indication to the local self-government body, to which management enterprise belongs; absence of subordinated liability of the enterprise for obligations of the local self-government body and its authorized body; operational management of an enterprise is carried out by the head of an enterprise appointed by the authority to which the management company belongs and is accountable to this body; losses incurred by the communal unitary enterprise as a result of the execution of decisions of state authorities or local self-government bodies shall be reimbursed by the said authorities voluntarily or by a court decision [1 ; 19].
The legislator has defined the right of local self-government bodies to public-private partnership in the field of collection, purification and distribution of water. According to the Law of Ukraine "On Public-Private Partnership" (2010, July 1), the objects of public-private partnership are: existing ones (by means of reconstruction, modernization, technical re-equipment) objects that are in state or communal ownership or belong to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, including subsoil areas; created or purchased objects as a result of performance of the contract entered into within the framework of public-private partnership. In the framework of the implementation of public-private partnerships can be concluded contracts: concession; management of the property (only subject to the envisaging in the contract, concluded in the framework of the public-private partnership, investment obligations of the private partner); joint activity; other contracts. The legislator also allows the conclusion of mixed contracts, the terms of which are determined in accordance with the civil law of Ukraine [14].
The specifics of the lease or concession for water supply and sanitation facilities in communal ownership are determined by the relevant law. The decision on the transfer of the lease or concession of water supply and sewage facilities in communal ownership is taken by the respective village, settlement and city councils. The term of the lease agreement is from two to thirty years, the concession is from three to fifty years [20].
Here are some examples of concession transfer and lease of integral property complexes of Ukrainian water supply and sanitation companies (existing contracts) in Table 1. The integral property complex of communal enterprise Odesvodokanal was transferred from 01.01.2004 to OOO "Infox Ltd." (branch "Infoxvodokanal"). At the time of the lease, the state of constructions and equipment of the enterprise was close to the critical one: the depreciation of fixed assets amounted to 55%, water losses in water supply networks -42%, arrears for the used electric power -25 mln. [11; 24]. The integral property complex of the utility company "Bilotserkivvodokanal" in 2012 was transferred to the concession LLC "Belotserkivvoda". According to the concession contract, not all property complex was transferred to the concession, but only those objects connected with water supply and sanitation. The remaining property will continue to be serviced and maintained by the utility company "Belotserkvvodokanalom" [9; 6; 24].

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Speaking about the forms of management of water supply and sanitation enterprises in Ukraine, it should be noted that the only enterprise with a delegated municipal form of management -a private jointstock company PRAT "AK Kyivvodokanal", privatized in 1999 in accordance with the local program. 67% of the shares of the company belong to the Private Joint-Stock Company Kyivenergolding, 25% of the shares are the municipal communal property department of Kyiv, an executive body of the Kyiv City Council (Kyiv City State Administration), the remaining shares are shareholders of the labor collective [5]. The company serves the capital of Ukraine with an actual number of 4 million people.
The state regulation in the field of centralized water supply and sanitation is carried out by the National Commission that carries out state regulation in the fields of energy and utilities (NKREKP) and local authorities. The distribution of regulatory powers is based on the following principle: NKREKP carries out licensing of economic activities for centralized water supply (production and / or transportation and / or supply of drinking water to consumers) and / or sanitation (drainage and / or wastewater treatment) if centralized water supply and / or sanitation of economic entities are located in one or several settlements within the territory of one or more oblasts (including the city of Kyiv), the aggregate number of us the number of which is more than 100 thousand people and the volume of sales of which is respectively: from centralized water supply -more than 300 thousand m3 / year; from the centralized sanitation system -more than 200 thousand m3 / year; all the others -regional and Kyiv city state administrations. As of December 31, 2012, the state, represented by NKREKP, regulated the activity of 3% of business entities in the area of centralized water supply and sanitation of Ukraine, which accounted for 74% of the national market for № 5 (45), Vol.3, May 2019 services in this area, while other 97% of enterprises regulate the activities of local self-government bodies, which is 26% of the market [3]. That is, in essence, the state retained the authority to regulate the activities of large water supply and sanitation enterprises. State regulation is carried out with the help of means of influence on water supply and sanitation enterprises: licensing of economic activity and control over observance of licensing conditions; tariff setting; establishment of individual technological standards for the use of drinking water; etc. [13].
State tariff policy in the field of water supply and sanitation is formed by the state in accordance with the Laws of Ukraine "On Prices and Pricing" (2012, June 21), "On Natural Monopolies" (2000, April 20), "On Housing and Communal Services" (2004, June 24), "On Drinking Water, Drinking Water Supply and Wastewater" (2012, January 10), "On State Regulation in the sphere of communal services" (2010, July 9) and is reflected in subordinate normative legal acts concerning tariff formation, respectively. Water supply and sanitation enterprises develop and submit to the authorized bodies (regulators) for approval the tariffs for centralized water supply and sanitation services with their justification. Tariffs for services are calculated on the basis of industry standard costs and must fully compensate operating costs and provide reliable work of central drinking water supply and sanitation enterprises [21]. The establishment of tariffs for centralized water supply and sanitation services is determined in accordance with regulatory acts, depending on the regulatory authority.
The tariffs for centralized water supply and sanitation in Ukraine are calculated: -for licensees of the Kyiv city state administration and regional state administrations in accordance with the Procedure for the formation of tariffs for heat energy, its production, transportation and supply, services for centralized heating and supply of hot water, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 869 (2011, June 1) [16]; -for NKREKP licensors in the field of heat supply in accordance with the Procedure for the formation of tariffs for centralized water supply and sanstation, approved by the NKREKP resolution No. 302 (2016, March 10) [18].
According to the given standards, the tariff for centralized water supply and sanitation should be economically justified and represents the cost of a unit (1 cubic m) of centralized water supply or sanitation of the appropriate quality as a monetary expression of the amount of planned economically justified costs and planned profit. The current system of tariff formation in the sphere of water supply and sanitation, based on the use of the cost plus method (the essence of which is to cover the tariff of all costs incurred by the company water supply and sanitation). When setting tariffs, NKREKP (or another regulator) is guided by the principle of balancing the interests of consumers, business entities and the state: restricts the planned costs of licensees at an economically justified level, which must ensure the self-sustainability of their activities, provided that they are effectively managed and economically used, while providing for the necessary investments for the safe and sustainable operation of water supply and sanitation systems. In fact, according to the information of water supply and sanitation companies (licensors of NKREKP), the level of coverage of current service costs (excluding the investment component directed to the implementation of an investment program approved by the NERCP) is on average 60% -70%.
The quality of drinking water supply and sanitation is regulated by a number of regulatory acts. In particular, the Constitution of Ukraine proclaims the right of every person to a safe environment for life and health, to a sufficient standard of living; the state provides sanitary and epidemic well-being. The Law of Ukraine "On Drinking Water, Drinking Water Supply and Wastewater" (2012, January 10) declares the proper quality of drinking water supply and defines it as one of the principles of state policy [21]. The Law of Ukraine "On ensuring the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the population" (1994, February 24) sets requirements for drinking water supply and places of water use. The Law of Ukraine "On Protection of the Population against Infectious Diseases" (2000, April 6) defines the rights and obligations of enterprises, institutions and organizations, regardless of the forms of ownership in the field of population protection against infectious diseases in order to provide population with drinking water. The Law of Ukraine "On Protection of Consumer Rights" (1991, May 12) regulates relations between consumers of goods, works and services and manufacturers and sellers of goods, performers of works and providers of services of various forms of ownership, establishes consumer rights, as well as defines the mechanism of their protection and the basis for the implementation of state policy in the field of protection consumer rights. In accordance with the Rules for the provision of district heating services, supply of cold and hot water and sanitation, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 630 (2005, July 21), centralized water supply and sanitation services should meet the requirements for water quality and pressure, as well as the calculated water consumption rates at the point of parsing. The rules for the use of centralized municipal water supply and sanitation systems in settlements of Ukraine, approved by the order of the Ministry of Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine No. 190 (2008, June 27) determine the procedure for using centralized systems municipal water supply and sanitation. Rules of technical operation of water supply and sanitation systems of settlements of Ukraine, approved by the order of the State Committee of Ukraine for Housing and Communal Services No. 30 (1995, July 5) establish the order of technical maintenance of systems and structures water supply and sanitation of cities and other settlements of Ukraine. The system of standards in the sphere of drinking water and drinking water supplies includes national standards, international and regional standards that determine the methods of research (testing) of safety and quality of drinking water. In the area of drinking water and drinking water supply: the norms of drinking water supply; ecological norms of quality of water sources of drinking water supply; technological norms of drinking water use; technical conditions in the sphere of drinking water and drinking water supply (Art. 29) [21]. The hygienic requirements for the quality of drinking water of various types: water supply, packaging, filling stations (tanks, kiosks), pump rooms, wells, and also used in food enterprises for the production of products, are established by the State Sanitary norms and the rules "Hygienic requirements for drinking water intended for for human consumption " (DSANPiN 2.2.4-171-10), approved by the order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 400 (2010, May 12). National Standard DSTU 7525: 2014 "Drinking Water. Requirements and methods of quality control" effective from 2015, contains norms of quality of drinking water and sets requirements for methods of its control in centralized and non-centralized water supply [8], and other national standards.
The powers of the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services include the preparation and publication of a National Report on the Quality of Drinking Water and the Condition of Drinking Water Supply in Ukraine, providing information on cases and causes to interested public authorities, civic organizations, enterprises, institutions, organizations and citizens. pollution of drinking water, the procedure for calculating tariffs for centralized water supply and sanitation services. The authority of the Ministry of Health is to approve indicators of safety and specific indicators of drinking water quality; approval of the list of reference methods for measuring the content (levels) of pollutants, residues of pesticides of drinking water. The powers of local self-government bodies include: decision-making on conducting state sanitary and epidemiological expertise of projects of economic activity that can negatively influence the quality of drinking water and drinking water supply systems; control over the quality of drinking water, use and protection of sources and systems of drinking water supply and sanitation; Providing information to the public about the quality of drinking water and the state of drinking water supply and sanitation. Water supply and sanitation companies constantly monitor the quality of water supply in the control areas of the water facility [21].
In the event of emergencies of anthropogenic and natural character that lead to the cessation of water supply to consumers, managers of drinking water supply companies are obliged to immediately inform the bodies that carry out state control in the sphere of drinking water and drinking water supply immediately in accordance with the established procedure, and to take measures the protection of sources and centralized water supply systems and the elimination of the causes and consequences of these emergencies and the organization of the work of drinking water bottling stations. In emergency situations of anthropogenic and natural nature, the financing of expenditures for the provision of drinking water to the population is carried out at the expense of state, local budgets and other sources not prohibited by law [21].
In case of breach of the water supply and sanitation company's requirements regarding the quality of water supply and sanitation services, the legislator ordered the enterprise to recalculate the amount of fees for services actually provided by reducing the amount of payment for the provision of services in accordance with the requirements [17]. At the same time, the procedure for confirming (challenging) by the consumer the fact of poor quality provision or non-provision of services for centralized water supply and sanitation in practice is very complicated and ineffective, as it is not prescribed in the legislation, nor does it foresee any other responsibility of the provider of services for centralized water supply and sanitation, except for making a recalculation.
The state guarantees the protection of consumers' rights in the sphere of drinking water, drinking water supply, in particular by: providing the population with drinking water of normative quality within the limits of scientifically substantiated norms depending on the area and living conditions; state support, regulation and supervision in the field; implementation of measures of organizational, scientific and technical, sanitary-epidemiological, environmental, economic, legal nature for improving the quality of drinking water, protection of sources and systems of drinking water supply, restoration of drinking water reserves; provision of compensation for damage caused to drinking water supply and sanitation enterprises by consumers, etc. [21]. Among the mechanisms of protection of consumers' rights in the sphere of water supply and sanitation, the legislator provided only the right of the consumer to submit a claim to the water supply and sanitation company and the judicial mechanism for resolving disputed issues. However, the judicial mechanism of protection is long-lasting, expensive and not always effective for the consumer. In general, the national system of consumer protection in the water supply and sanitation sector can be described as complex, long-term and inefficient. The norms of the legislation on the protection of the rights of consumers of services are more declarative than effective. There are no clear mechanisms for implementing consumer rights protection in the field.
Environmental regulation and protection of water resources are carried out in accordance with the Water Code of Ukraine (1995, June 6) and the Law of Ukraine "On Environmental Protection" (1991, June 25).
Conclusions. Centralized water supply and sanitation services in Ukraine are services provided to consumers (population, enterprises, institutions, etc.) and include the production, transportation and supply of drinking water (centralized water supply); collection, transportation and treatment of sewage (sewage). Drinking water in the system of centralized drinking water supply is not a commodity, but is a service with appropriate qualitative and quantitative characteristics. The decision of the water supply, sanitation and wastewater treatment, monitoring of the quality of drinking water relates to the executive powers of local self-government. Models of management of water supply and sanitation enterprises are selected by the owners of enterprises, in most cases, by local self-government bodies, but taking into account state rules defined by the relevant laws. The majority of water supply and sanitation companies in Ukraine belong to communal property. The predominant form of management of enterprises of water supply and sanitation in Ukraine is direct communal management. The legal status of communal enterprises of water supply and sanitation is determined by the limited capacity of enterprises in the use of property, profit management, the approval of annual plans of activity, volumes of production, norms of specific expenditures of fuel and energy resources, investment programs, norms (norms) of drinking water supply, restriction of drinking water supply to the level ecological armor and so on. Local self-government bodies have the right to public-private partnership in the field of collection, purification and distribution of water in accordance with the Laws of Ukraine "On Public-Private Partnership" (2010, July 1) and "On the Specifics of Leasing or Concession Transfer of Objects in the Areas of Heat Supply, Water Supply and Sanitation Management, which are in communal ownership" (2010, October 21). State regulation in the area of centralized water supply and sanitation is carried out by the state regulator -NKREKP and local authorities depending on the location of centralized water supply and / or sanitation systems of economic entities in one or several settlements within the territory of one or more oblasts (including the city of Kyiv), from the aggregate population and volumes of sales of services. The state in the person of NKREKP regulates the activity of 3% of business entities in the area of centralized water supply and sanitation of Ukraine, accounting for 74% of the national market for services in this area (mainly large enterprises), the activities of other 97% of enterprises regulate local self-government bodies, which is 26 market%. State regulation is carried out with the help of means of influence on water supply and sanitation enterprises: licensing of economic activity and control over observance of licensing conditions; tariff setting; establishment of individual technological standards for the use of drinking water; etc. The current state tariff policy does not ensure the efficient functioning of water supply and sewage enterprises. The level of covering with actual rates of actual cost of services on average is 60% -70%. The quality of water supply and sanitation services serviced by the state is guaranteed by the state, but there are no clear mechanisms for confirming (challenging) by the consumer the fact of poor provision or failure to provide centralized water supply and sanitation services in practice. The national system of consumer protection in the water supply and sanitation sector is inefficient, costly and long-term. The norms of the legislation on the protection of the rights of consumers of services are more declarative than effective. There are no clear mechanisms and effective institutions for implementing the protection of consumer rights in the field. All issues raised concern the state policy in the field of water supply and sanitation, which is periodically reviewed taking into account the balance of interests of consumers and water supply and sanitation companies, accessibility and quality of services, consumer protection.