Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine Monitor Black Sea After Thousands of Tonnes of Oil Spilled by Russian ‘Shadow Fleet’ Tankers
Bulgaria's Environment Minister Petar Dimitrov held talks via videoconference with Romania's Environment Minister Mircea Feshet and Ukraine's Environment and Natural Resources Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk the day before, the ministry said.
The three ministers discussed the situation after the oil spill from two Russian tankers near the Kerch Strait. They agreed to share information from scientific organisations and institutions in each country on the case. In coordination, the three countries will monitor possible hazards to the environment and the Black Sea coastline.
Minister Dimitrov is in constant contact with his Romanian and Ukrainian counterparts and will keep them informed of the latest scientific analyses and forecasts being made in Bulgaria.
In turn, Svitlana Hrynchuk, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, said that the damage caused by the oil spill by Russian tankers could exceed $14 billion.
‘According to preliminary information, one of the tankers was carrying 4,300 tonnes of fuel oil. We have just held a meeting with the ministers of environment of Bulgaria and Romania, who are also very concerned about the situation, as well as with the countries of the Black Sea region. According to their information, and preliminary to ours, this volume may be much more than 4,300 tonnes,’ said Hrynchuk.
She also added that the Russians are unlikely to take any measures to eliminate the consequences of the environmental disaster.
‘What we can do - Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria - we have already agreed that we will conduct constant monitoring. At our posts, we will continue to model the spread of pollution in order to protect at least our coastal zones. But the fact that this situation and this disaster will be an environmental disaster for the Black Sea is one hundred percent certain,’ the head of the Ministry of Environment stressed.
On 15 December, two Russian oil tankers, Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, began to sink near the coast in the Kerch Strait. The accident was caused by a severe storm. One of the tankers was cut almost in half by the waves.