An expert has criticised plans to reform Finland's Water Supply Act, saying the proposed legislation would permit an excessive share (49%) of water utilities to be privately owned.
That critic is associate professor Tapio Katko, a member of the water services development research team at the University of Tampere.
"Yes, I think [water] should have a clear one hundred percent ownership on the public side," Katko said.
The reform plans are perhaps an unexpected result of a citizens' initiative in 2021 aimed at preventing the privatisation of Finland's water supply. A vote on the matter marked the first time a citizens' initiative drew unanimous support from MPs.
The so-called 'Water is ours' (Finnish: Vesi on meidän) initiative, launched by Left Alliance party members, was prompted by plans in the City of Jyväskylä to sell a minority stake in its water and energy company.
However, according to Katko, as the bill currently reads, the proposed legislation would permit private investors to have an excessive share of water supply ownership.
"Why on earth would we [allow] to let money coming from such an essential service flow into the wrong hands," Katko asked.
In his opinion, companies responsible for the maintenance and operation of water infrastructure should be owned by municipalities.
"Based on international examples, it can be said that investors are more interested in taking money out and not necessarily investing in water facilities," he said, pointing to a nearby example in Tallinn.
The Estonian capital privatised its water supply at the beginning of 2001.
"Despite promises [to do otherwise], the private company invested very little in [Tallinn's] water facility, but it did distribute dividends, among other things," Katko explained.
Opposition and government mull reform
Earlier this week, newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported that the government and opposition parties were considering what the Water Supply Act reforms would mean for people in Finland.
Opposition MP Pinja Peholehto (SDP) told the paper that the 49 percent limit of private ownership would lead to investors demanding profits in the operation of water facilities that risk outweighing citizens' needs.
The newspaper likened the proposed reforms to state-owned energy company Fortum selling many of its electricity networks to foreign investors, which resulted in transmission price hikes for end users.
However, Finland does not currently have laws regarding the proportion of water utility ownership, according to the agriculture and forestry ministry's director of international water cooperation, Olli-Matti Verta.
"Now the regulation is being considerably tightened," Verta told the paper, confirming that the draft law allows for external investors to hold 49 percent of a water utility.
According to associate professor Katko, domestic ownership of water utilities should be protected more than the proposed bill calls for.
"Due to security and safety concerns, we have to keep the water supply in our own hands," Katko said.
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