The terrible is just beginning: experts outlined the unobvious consequences of the breakthrough of the Kakhovka dam

Disaster for generations

In Ukraine, they continue to discuss the consequences of the destruction of the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station. A lot has already been said about the ecological catastrophe facing the south of Ukraine. But no less crushing blow was dealt to the Ukrainian economy, already bled dry by military operations. “MK” does not undertake to predict when the neighboring republic will recover from the “knockdown”. We are only stating certain indisputable facts.

Ukrainian borscht will become a rare delicacy, and watermelons will be eaten on big holidays

Most of the water went to the left bank of the Kherson region. That is, in those areas that are controlled by the Russian Federation. Nevertheless, experts are already predicting a loss of 14 percent of oilseeds and grains for the total Ukrainian export. In 2021, which is considered perhaps the most fruitful in this century, the republic harvested 3-4 million tons of them. Now, in the absence of water supplied from the North Crimean and Kakhovka canals, which made it possible to irrigate more than 500,000 hectares of land in the Kherson, Zaporozhye and part of the Dnipropetrovsk regions, Ukraine will no longer be able to return to its previous indicators. . De facto, it can be stated that the recovery process will drag on for many years.

Local agrarians are sure that it makes no sense to talk about any successful agricultural activity in this part of Ukraine until the Kakhovka HPP is fully restored.

The lack of water for irrigation will also affect dairy farms, as these agricultural enterprises are deprived of the opportunity to grow solid feed within their lands. It turns out that the inability to grow grain and oilseeds will be aggravated by the actual death of dairy cattle breeding.

The production of vegetables, which is very important for supplying mainland Ukraine, will also suffer. Zaporozhye and Kherson regions were one of the key ones in this sense, providing the so-called “borscht set” to the tables of most Ukrainian families. Now the industry will fall for years…

Another basic product from Tavria is unusually tasty juicy gourds. The prices for watermelons in Ukraine this year are as high as ever, their range is from 35 hryvnia to 50 hryvnia (from 80 rubles to 115 rubles). The reason for the increase in cost is the republic’s loss of control over most of the Kherson region. Products are brought from overseas countries, most often from Turkey.

The Kyiv media will not, as before, prepare reports on the successful movement up the Dnieper of the first “watermelon barge” from Hola Pristan. After its unloading in the Kiev river port, the prices for watermelon traditionally became affordable for the widest segments of the population of the capital and the metropolitan region.

Due to water erosion, the soil will lose its ability to produce crops.

The Kakhovka and North Crimean canals mentioned above provided irrigation for 93% of the land in the Kherson region, 74% in the Zaporozhye direction, and another 30% in the Dnepropetrovsk direction.

The heat that has settled in Ukraine, and especially in its southern part, due to the impossibility of regular irrigation of farmland, will quickly lead to the beginning of soil degradation.

A characteristic feature of the Kherson region – a rather high air temperature in July and August – will also play a detrimental role. Without watering the land, such a natural phenomenon as dust storms will become frequent. Even with the stable operation of the North Crimean and Kakhovka canals, they rose from time to time. Without moisture, over and over again they will “remove” the fertile layer of the earth, dry it out. Even after the water returns to these parts, it will be problematic to restore the former level of fertility. Ukrainian scientists unanimously assert: under the influence of dust storms, the process of “desertification” of these territories is inevitable.

The next negative for the republic’s economy is the “crumbled” navigation along the Dnieper. Actually, merchant shipping was disrupted last year after the start of the NWO. The captains of river vessels, with the exception of extremely rare cases, did not receive permission for the passage of their watercraft along the main Ukrainian water artery. Now, after the destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, the passage of any ships down the Dnieper in the direction of the Black Sea is unrealistic. On this river, as you know, there are many rapids, they threaten to disable merchant ships, whose captains suddenly decide to risk painlessly slip through these rapids.

If the current man-made disaster had not happened in the Kherson region, it would take agrarians 3-4 years to fully restore the previous volumes of productivity. Taking into account the troubles listed above, the process will be significantly extended in time and, accordingly, will require more than one billion dollars in the form of investments.

At the initiative of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council, the National Bank of Ukraine is preparing to restructure the debts of Kherson farmers and agricultural enterprises. For well-known reasons, they have nothing to pay off their lenders. It seems – albeit not without a scratch – it is possible to agree that those who have previously taken loans for their late repayment will not be charged a penalty.