State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources allows drinking water extraction for leading juice producer

Сomplainee: State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine (SSG)
Complaint in brief: One of the major juice producers of Ukraine appealed to the Council. For a year and a half the company could not receive a special permit for the subsoil use to extract the drinking water from one of the water fields in the Vinnytsya region.
When the complainant first applied and provided all documents for consideration of the SSG he got rejected: the controlling authority required to improve the documents. Taking into account all the objections, the juice producer sent an application with the necessary documents to the SSG six times. The files were also considered by the Ministry of Energy and Environment Protection and the Vinnytsya Regional Council. However, the controlling authorities again and again rejected all documents. Then the company lodged a complaint to the Council.
Actions taken: The investigator admitted the complaint was reasonable. The Council recommended the SSG to consider the complainant’s documents according to the law and take a transparent and objective decision in relation to the company. Later the SSG informed the Council that it received a new application for the permit of the drinking water extraction from the complainant. The Council raised a concern about the complaint at the meeting of the expert group with the participation of the controlling authority two times in order to consider the complainant’s documents in detail.
Results achieved: In the course of the expert group meetings, the SSG upheld the recommendations of the Council. The complainant got a long-awaited permit for extraction of the subsoil drinking water to produce juices. The investigator successfully closed the case.