Ukraine, Romania Resolve 20-Year Dispute over Construction of Danube-Black Sea Canal

Ukraine and Romania have resolved a dispute over the construction of the Danube-Black Sea deep-water shipping lane by the Ukrainian side, where Bucharest claimed that Kyiv had violated environmental standards, Ukrainian Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets said on Facebook.

The Minister reminded that the dispute concerned Ukraine's obligations under the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention). It was finally settled on the sidelines of the 9th Meeting of the Parties to the Espoo Convention in Geneva.

"We have done our homework and have come a long way in bringing the project in line with the requirements of the Convention. After all, Ukraine cares about good neighbourly relations and compliance with international law. We are willing and able to find common ground and correct the mistakes of the past," Strilets said.

The interstate dispute over the Danube-Black Sea Canal, which runs through the Kilia and Starostambul (Bystryi) estuaries in the Danube Delta, has been going on since 2004, when Ukraine launched navigation through the canal in an experimental mode.

The European Commission and Romania opposed the project, citing the delta's protected status and the lack of an environmental impact assessment.

To resolve the dispute, in January 2005, the Commission of Inquiry was set up under the Espoo Convention to form a scientifically based opinion on the possible effects of transboundary impacts during the implementation and use of the Danube-Black Sea Canal.

Earlier this year, Romania asked Ukraine for clarifications regarding hydraulic works in the Kilia Canal.

For reference: The Danube-Black Sea Canal is a navigable canal in Romania that connects the Black Sea with the navigable part of the Danube River channel. The canal branches off from the Danube riverbed in the area of the old port of Cernavode (299.3 km of the Danube) and runs along the Dobruja plateau, through the settlements of Medjidia and Murfatlar, which have become inland ports, to the seaport of Constanta. The main line of the canal is 64.4 km long. It was built in 1976-1984. The canal is part of the waterway between the North and Black Seas via the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal and the Danube River.