“It is worth learning from others’ mistakes, taking into account the experience of others,” said Krzysztof Lontka, director of the non-investment projects foundation of the Lublin City Council, during a meeting with the representatives of AHs of the Zaporizhzhia and Kirovohrad Oblast. Study visits to Poland for the representatives of amalgamated hromadas are organised by the U-LEAD with Europe Programme.

During the study tour to Lublin on “Best Practices for Provision of Housing and Communal Services in the Context of Implementation of the Decentralisation Reform”, hromadas’ representatives had the opportunity to visit nine Polish gminas, see sorting and waste processing plants, wastewater treatment facilities, talk directly with the heads of urban and rural gminas and managers of the enterprises, hear about the possibilities of attracting investments and different experience of implementation of the systems of effective housing and communal service management.

Energy saving

Great attention in Polish gminas is paid to energy saving systems. Solar panels, photovoltaics are the energy sources installed on both administrative and residential buildings. Some of the funds are allocated by the European Union, the other part is paid in different ways: in some gminas – from the local budget, in the others – at the expense of residents, provided with modern technologies. Gminas also switch to pellets’ usage as more effective heating system.

Water supply

The problem of water supply has been already solved there, at least in the gminas, visited during the study tour. For example, in Niemce there are five water supply stations per 22 thousand people. There are also water treatment stations. The cost of water supply in gminas is different – in those, visited by AH representatives, it amounts to PLN 2.15 and PLN 2.86 per 1 cubic metre. The tariff is determined by the institution, not the gmina.

Waste

The waste problem, relevant for many Ukrainian hromadas, has been actively dealt with in Poland after the adoption of the law on waste sorting and recycling by the European Union. Sorting is currently a norm for many residents. Moreover, if until this year four waste fractions used to be determined, then today there are already eight of them. Intermunicipal cooperation is actively used for waste recycling as well as for establishment of fire safety centres. The problem of payment for waste removal was solved by equating it to the tax, collected from each resident and paid directly to the gmina’s budget. The gmina also determines the schedule of garbage removal. However, everyone has the opportunity to deliver garbage to garbage collection points on their own, without additional payment. Gminas are currently launching the construction of large sorting boxes.

There are no monopolists in Poland for electricity supply. A supplier is chosen by price and quality.

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