Latvijas Lauksaimniecības universitātes raksti nr. 18 (313) , 2007 ...

N. Bastienė, V. Šaulys Maintenance and Financing of Land Drainage in LithuaniaFig. 1. Administrative subdivision of Lithuania into counties and municipalities.for a more sustainable water and land management.A very long experience of a successful organizationof collective activity and management of land andwater resources according to local standards hasbeen gained in Germany. The possible usefulnessof implementing this experience in Lithuania is stillunder consideration.After a long discussion, only in 2004, a newLand Reclamation Law dealing with the changesin the property rights of land reclamation structureswas approved (Lietuvos Respublikos …, 2004).According to this law, the greatest part of subsurfacedrainage came into possession of the landowner:drainage laterals and collectors with the diameterless than 12.5 cm were transferred to the landownerswhile the rest of drainage network remained the stateproperty. The following changes were dictated by thestructural funds of the EU that can be used only forthe renovation of private land reclamation structures(the share of the EU funds amounts to 50%). In thefinancial support regulations it is stated that the wholefinancing from the state budget will be provided onlyfor the repair works of drainage collectors with thediameter more than 12.5 cm. In all other cases theshare of personal funds should be no less than 15%.Under the conditions of market economy, theinvestments in land improvement should be profitable.Therefore, further financing of land reclamationmaintenance from the state budget should beoptimized and focused on the economic expediencyand development of regions most suitable foragriculture. No investments should be allocated wherethe operation of drainage systems is unprofitable.The aim of the study was to motivate the necessity toimprove the maintenance of land reclamation structuresand to prepare new scenarios for the allocation of statesubsidies considering the economical efficiency of thefinancing of land reclamation activities. To achievethis aim, the following tasks were set up:- to analyze the current situation in the landreclamation sector and the technical state ofdrainage systems;- to carry out the analysis of land reclamationfinancing from the state budget;- to ascertain the factors having a direct effecton the economic efficiency of the drainagesystems exploitation;- to prepare the redistribution model of thefinancing of land reclamation activitiesbasing on regional priorities.Materials and MethodsThe study is based on the analysis of the presenttechnical and financial situation in the land reclamationsector in Lithuania. The data from the StatisticsDepartment of Lithuania, State Land ManagementInstitute, Lithuanian Institute of Agrarian Economicsas well as from Agricultural Ministry of Lithuaniahave been used and processed by the method ofstatistical analysis.The economical benefit of the reparation ofdeteriorated drainage has been estimated in linewith trade prices of crop production and drainagereparation costs for the period of three years (1999-2001) in order to avoid possible meteorologicaleffects and uneven price fluctuation. The data about18LLU Raksti 18 (313), 2007; 17-24