The Chisinau government had no reaction to the latest international investigation into the Balkan Insight portal, which shows video and photos that Ukraine will continue work on its part of the Dniester border, in fact it has not reached an agreement on this. meaning with the Republic of Moldova.

Ukraine is also a signatory to the 1999 Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, and the Dniester River is of strategic importance, supplying drinking water to over 70% of the population of the Republic of Moldova and over 90% of Chisinau. It also supplies drinking water to the Odessa region of southern Ukraine.

The director of Eco-Tiras and the environmental activist, Ilia Trombițchi, declared for G4Media.ro that, at present, the Ukrainians are preparing to answer on the environmental regulation that they proposed to the Moldovan side.

Next week, on November 17, a joint meeting of the bilateral commission for the Dniester will take place so that both parties can discuss the provisions of the regulation that the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine would respect in this regard on the Dniester.

“The authorities have nothing to communicate and prefer to remain silent in this context. The problem is complex and the Chisinau authorities prefer not to say anything on this subject. That is probably why the attention regarding the last journalistic investigation on the subject of the Dniester was somewhat small. And that was weird for me. Given that Ukraine does not need these 19 hectares owned by the Republic of Moldova near the Naslavcea dam, I see that the Republic of Moldova does not have any leverage in this case to put certain conditions on Kiev “, Trombitchi told us.

Lack of trust

In turn, the former Minister of Environment, Valeriu Munteanu told G4Media.ro that it is difficult to trust Ukraine amid a lack of transparency on energy plans and especially their impact on the environment, when things go wrong. of a. mutual agreements between the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

“It is strange that there is no reaction. The government is somehow in a period of recurring romance, unfortunately. They believe that the Ukrainian side can be improved with flowers and basil, and they probably believe that the partners in Brussels and Berlin will help in this regard. You can’t believe in Moscow’s tears, but you can’t believe in Kiev either.

He also stated that the Chisinau authorities must not allow the lack of transparency on this extremely important file, which would represent a deviation from democratic norms.

“I think it is the responsibility to follow the same path, when it was clear all the issues that Ukrainians insisted on, and I kept quiet and took my word for it. It is clear that you will lose with such an attitude. All discussions that have taken place in this regard need to be made public and more transparency is needed. Unfortunately, after the meeting of the Moldovan-Ukrainian bilateral commission took place, I did not see what was explained by the Moldovan side, and this does not give reasonable suspicion that there are things that have been discussed and cannot be said. This is in contradiction with democracy and the rule of law “, Munteanu added.

Violation of the Espoo Convention

Last but not least, the former deputy of the Justice and Truth Platform Party (PPDA); Inga Grigoriu, accused, on Thursday, during a conference on this subject, of Moldovan passivity, a fact that would help enormously the Ukrhydroenergo enterprise to build new turbines that would produce energy with the help of the water from the Dniester and that such actions contradict. Espoo Convention.

“On October 28-29, the Moldovan-Ukrainian negotiations took place. I want to ask the citizens of the Republic of Moldova if there was information about the results obtained? Has it organized a press conference on the third round of negotiations with the Ministry of Environment? Did he inform the relevant ministry about the new challenges and how do our thoughts overcome them? ”, The former deputy declared, quoted by the portal. Anticorruption.md.

She criticized the Ministry of Environment for the lack of transparency related to price negotiation. Grigoriu also stated that Annex 2 of the protocol of the third round of Moldovan-Ukrainian negotiations raises a number of questions.

“What is their Moldovan position on these works? Were they agreed with the Moldovan side? If they have not been agreed, did the Ministry of Environment report these violations at the meeting of October 28-29, through which the parties will inform each other about various aspects about the Dniester? ”, Said Inga Grigoriu.

A recent investigation of Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), which presents a series of photos and videos of the work on the Ukrainian side carried out on the Dniester shows that Ukrhydroenergo is currently working to widen the Dniester River on its territory, on the segment between Novodnistrovsk and the border with Moldova..

It is not yet known whether the Moldovan side was notified about these works. All these expansion works are necessary for Ukrhydroenergo to complete the Dniester Pump Hydroelectric Power Plant, which will be the largest in Europe and the sixth in the world, writes the portal Anticorupție.md, partner of the investigation in the Republic of Moldova.

The Moldovan Ministry of Environment insists that this Dniester Hydropower Complex has no impact on the Dniester flow.

“Mud banks, islands covered with vegetation and submerged islands […] are a characteristic annual phenomenon in late summer – early autumn. This process is determined by the low level of precipitation during the arid periods of the year in the mountainous and premontane areas of Ukraine “, the ministry claims.