U.S.-based RWL Water, which was founded and is headed by Ronald Lauder, will participate in the financing of a project on water purification systems in Donbas, , RWL Water Chief Operating Officer Philippe Laval said at an official ceremony held on Monday to sign a memorandum on cooperation on water treatment.

According to Laval, this includes not only direct participation in the funding of the project, but also participation as a go-between with international financial institutions, including the World Bank.

RWL Water, Kyiv-based Nature Technologies LLC, Kyiv Polytechnics Science Park and the Agency for Rebuilding and Developing Donbas announced a joint project to provide high-quality water to Donbas-based households.

Former Donetsk Region Governor, MP Serhiy Taruta said that the problem in connecting water supplies to Donbas is very acute due to the systemic and purposeful destruction of the water supply system during the ongoing conflict in the region. The system was created in 1950s and its out-of-date technologies cost a lot and do not cut the production cost of water supply. Also, some water is delivered to the region from Russia.

RWL Water has offered to resolve problem of water supply in the region by introducing modern technologies to purify sewage waters and remove salt from Azov sea water.

Taruta said that the town council of Mariupol is mulling the possibility of using water from the Azov Sea, which is considered salted water, not sea water, as it is easier to remove salt from it. If the technology is introduced, the problem of water supply in the town would be settled for ever. He said that Donbas has huge potential in pumping water from coalmines.

President of Kyiv Polytechnics Science Park Mykhailol Zhurovsky said that investment in the project will depend on its scale, however one water purification unit could cost hundreds of thousands of the U.S. dollars.

Taruta said that the scale of the project would depend on its buyback period and opportunities for raising funds.

Nature Technologies President Volodymyr Risukhin said that first results of the realization of the project would be seen in 12-18 months.

Laval said that now RWL Water is implementing a similar project in Mexico.