The dispute was resolved on the sidelines of the 9th Meeting of the Parties to the Espoo Convention.
Ukraine has resolved a long-standing dispute with Romania regarding the fulfillment of its requirements during the construction of the Danube-Black Sea canal.
The dispute was resolved on the sidelines of the 9th Meeting of the Parties to the Espoo Convention.
He noted that the dispute concerned Ukraine's obligations under the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context.
"Ukraine complies with its European integration obligations under the Espoo Convention. On the sidelines of the ninth meeting of the parties to the Espoo Convention, the 20-year-old dispute with Romania regarding the fulfillment of its requirements during the construction of the Danube-Black Sea canal has been resolved. We have done our homework and overcame a long way to bring the project into compliance with the requirements of the Convention," he emphasized.
The interstate dispute regarding the "Danube-Black Sea" canal, which runs through the Kili and Starostambul (Bystry) estuaries in the Danube Delta, began back in 2004, when Ukraine launched navigation through the canal in an experimental mode. Speak out against itthe European Commission and Romania, they referred to the environmental protection status of the delta and the lack of an assessment of the impact of shipping on the environment.
To resolve the dispute, in January 2005, based on the Espoo Convention, a Commission of Inquiry was created to form a scientifically based opinion on the possible consequences of transboundary impacts during the implementation and use of the canal. At the beginning of this year, Romania asked Ukraine for clarifications regarding the hydrotechnical works in the Kili Canal - in February 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania summoned the Ambassador of Ukraine Ihor Prokopchuk in connection with the hydraulic works in the Kili estuary of the Danube, requesting the access of its own vessels to the site works Bucharest asked for clarification on exactly what hydrotechnical works were being carried out at the mouth of the Danube, and also demanded that dredging works be stopped, if they are not related to the support of navigation. At that time, the Ukrainian side noted that work was being carried out solely to ensure navigation to the port of Izmail.