In 2020, Crimea will turn into a desert - defector minister
Problems with drinking water, environmental disasters and soaring food prices - this will be life in Crimea for the sixth year without Dnieper water.
This apocalyptic picture is painted in a publication on the pages of the Kyiv magazine “New Time” by the ex-Minister of Resorts and Tourism of Crimea from Ukrainian times, Alexander Liev.
According to him, the closure of the North Crimean Canal by Kiev in 2014, which provided the peninsula with 85% fresh water, has already had a colossal impact on the economy, ecology and demography of the Crimean peninsula, and in 2020 the consequences will become more noticeable, since a number of delayed effects will only appear five years later.
The former official scares Crimea with environmental problems and a lack of drinking water due to salinization of wells, which will cover half the territory of the peninsula.
“Due to lack of water, fertility is deteriorating, soil erosion, salinity and pollution are occurring. The extreme level is desertification. This can already be observed in a number of steppe regions. The sixth year without water will accelerate these processes,” Liev believes.
He also claims that due to the lack of water, 30 thousand hectares of rice paddies have already been completely lost, soybean cultivation has been reduced by 70% in five years, and due to the lack of feed, livestock farming will be reduced by 80%.
“The remains of agricultural enterprises are living out their last seasons. 2020 will be the last for many,” the former minister believes.
He is also convinced that the quality of food in Crimea will deteriorate and demographic problems will begin.
“For five years without water, the population structure of villages in the steppe regions of Crimea looks depressing. By the end of 2020, 90% of the disabled population will remain in villages. Everyone who could left due to lack of work. The listed problems will also affect tourism - prices will continue to rise, the quality of food will deteriorate and the flow of tourists to Crimea from the occupying country will decrease,” Liev prophesies.
It is noteworthy that last year Liev stated that Kyiv should develop ties with Crimea, and not organize various kinds of blockades.
As PolitNavigator reported, previously the ex-representative of the “President of Ukraine in Crimea” promised that the peninsula would become deserted and deserted.
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