On 15 August in the villages Smile and Yaroshivka, Romny rayon (district), and on 16 August in the villages Zhovtneve and Zavody, Konotop rayon of Sumy oblast (region), in the framework of the Swiss-Ukrainian Project "Decentralization Support in Ukraine” - DESPRO, the newly built water supply lines were put into operation.

"Construction of a water supply line, availability and quality of drinking water - this is a positive step towards improving the infrastructure and social services in rural areas. Now the villagers will have decent conditions for living and running their own households,"- emphasized Viktor Syerik, the head of Romny rayon state administration.

The total length of the water pipe in Smile is 9.5 kilometres. In order to implement the project, more than 867,000 UAH have been spent, including 240,000 UAH of the DESPRO Project’s funds; 250,000 UAH from the rayon budget; about 50,000 from the village community budget and household funds.

For the construction of 9.4 kilometres of water supply networks in the village Yaroshivka, 790,000 UAH were attracted, including 240,000 UAH from the DESPRO Project; 250,000 UAH from the rayon budget and individual funds.

Smilive educational complex, an out-patient clinic, a community centre, a pastry shop of Smilive consumer society, a milk collecting station of "Ros’" PE, Yaroshiv educational complex, a canteen of "Urozhay" PFE and Yaroshiv FJSC have been connected to water supply as well.

"Through implementation of joint projects and introduction of the co-financing (cost-sharing) mechanism, we have developed an effective model of providing high-quality and affordable water supply services," - said Viktor Syerik.

"Due to implementation of this project, the villagers will consume high-quality drinking water. This is an effective step towards improving the lives of people,"- said Oleksandr Luhovyy, the head of Konotop rayon state administration Konotop.

For the construction of almost 9-kilometer network, 5 wells with water tanks in the village Zhovtneve, over 599 thousand UAH have been used, of which 240,000 UAH – DESPRO Project funds, 160,000 UAH – the rayon budget, 199,000 UAH – the community contribution. 180 households (407 residents) as well as Zhovtneve educational complex "Secondary school of I-III level - Pre-school" have been connected to the network.
For the construction of 7.1 kilometres of networks, establishing of a water tower, cleaning of an artesian well in the village Zavody, 321,000 UAH of the community funds have been spent, 240,000 UAH of the DESPRO Project funds, and 160,000 UAH - from the rayon district budget. Now high-quality drinking water is supplied to 107 households (234 residents).
"The effectiveness of our cooperation is due to active participation of both the rayon authorities and the local community in the village for implementing this socially important project", - added Vyacheslav Kozak, expert of the DESPRO Project.
During the opening of the water supply lines in Sumy oblast, project experts informed about the DESPRO activities in the third phase, and a suggestion was made to create a single service association of cooperatives for providing organizational, methodological and technical assistance.