Three vessels of the River Administration “Lower Danube” Galats on Friday began measurements on the Ukrainian section of the Kili branch, given that Ukraine did not agree to the Bastroe canal, as demanded by Romania. It will be recalled that the Romanian and Ukrainian authorities agreed that on March 15, Romanian experts will begin measurements on the Kilii Branch and the Bastro Canal in order to clarify the problem of dredging.

The River Administration “Lower Danube” Galaţi confirmed to stiriletvr.ro that this morning measurements began on part of the Chili branch – the depth will be measured and the banks will be mapped.

According to the partial agreement of Ukraine, measurements on the Kili branch (Ukrainian side) will be carried out only during the day and will cover the section between 22 and 116 km of this branch of the Danube. They will last about ten days.

Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu said on Thursday that Ukrainian authorities had given partial consent to begin measuring only part of the Chilean arm, not the Bastro channel.

• “In previous discussions with Ukrainian officials, we requested that the measurements on the Chilia arm begin at 11 km.
• We insist that Romania’s fleet of specialized ships be given access to other sectors of the Cilien Arm (between km 11 and 22) as well as to the Bastro Canal.
• Considering the fact that even the representatives of the European Commission supported Romania’s requests, I believe that it is in the interests of both countries to clarify the issue regarding the dredging carried out by Ukraine in the entire Kili branch and the Bastroe channel,” Grindianu said.

The reasons given by Ukrainians for only partial agreement

Secretary of State at the Ministry of Transport Yonel Skriostianu said on Thursday the reasons for issuing the partial agreement were “security-related and come from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine”, given that there have been several incidents involving landmines. on Bastro that they affected civilian vessels.

• “It’s a very, very important step that we start measuring on Chilia because it’s a major arm in this area. Or Bâstroe without Chilia has no effect in terms of vessel movement.
• It is very important that we enter Ukrainian territory tomorrow and start measurements, of course, with the assistance of the Ukrainian side.
• Practically, our dialogue continues and has positive consequences from the point of view of clarifying this situation, which has given rise to disputes,” the state secretary said in a telephone interview on Antena 3.

When asked about the reasons for this partial agreement, he answered that they are related to security and come from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine:

• “That was the rationale from the beginning. This Bastro Channel has recently had several mine incidents affecting civilian vessels, and this part of the measurement is more difficult there, and additional safety precautions must be taken compared to those used so far for Chile.
• I am sure that options will be found so that we can take measurements there and get a conclusion. It’s a matter of time.”

Romanian and Ukrainian authorities agreed on March 3 at the first technical meeting regarding the dredging of the Bastro Canal that Romania should start measuring the Chili Arm and the Bastro Canal from March 15, but this did not happen because Ukraine did not provide written consent.

Environment Minister Tanchos Barna said on Monday that this written agreement is needed “to go out with three ships and measure the length of the depth of Chile, and then enter the Bastro channel, which is one hundred percent on the territory of Ukraine. and be able to verify depths, calculate flows if only dredging has been carried out, maintain depths and ensure that flows do not change in a way that affects biodiversity in the medium to long term from the Delta.”

The results of the first measurements made by Romania after the dredging of the Bastro Canal

The first measurements carried out by the authorities in the territorial waters of Romania after the dredging of the Bastroe Canal confirm that the flows have not changed compared to the statistical flows of the last 10-20 years in the area, but for the general conclusion Measurements are also required from the Ukrainian side, which is expected to be in writing. also noted by Tanchos Barna.

Last week, he presented the government with the first results of measurements carried out by the Romanian authorities after the dredging of the Bastroe Canal, saying that the biodiversity in the Danube Delta has not been affected by the work so far.

• “In recent weeks, colleagues from ANAR and ARBDD conducted the first measurements, which were completed last week, regarding the flow of the Danube in Kilia and in areas where we have access to the territorial waters of Romania and where we can go to other banks of the Danube with the consent of Ukrainian partners and neighbors.
• These measurements confirm that flows have not changed compared to statistical flows over the past 10-20 years in the area. It also confirms that there are no significant changes caused by dredging on the 14 cross-sections, but it should be emphasized that these measurements cover 14 cross-sections with a length of almost 100 kilometers,” the minister said.

At the same time, he emphasized that measurements in the territorial waters of Ukraine are also needed for a general conclusion.

Ukraine has suggested that it will stop any form of dredging in Chile and Bastro until the situation is clarified.

On March 7, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Transport Yonel Skriostianu announced after a meeting regarding the Bastro Canal that the Ukrainian side had undertaken to stop any dredging work until the situation was clarified.

• “The good news is that Ukraine has assumed that it will stop any form of dredging in Chili and Bastro, and we have determined together with the delegation of the European Commission that from now on the main activity will be focused on the consolidation of the Sulin Canal, investments in the Sulin Canal, in order to increase the transit capacity to receive all vessels that are on the maritime Danube cluster. (…) Ukraine assumed that it would stop any form of dredging, be it operational, maintenance or any other form,” Ionel Skriostianu said at the time.

How the scandal surrounding the dredging of the Bastro canal began

Ukraine has not violated any agreement by deepening the Bastro Canal from the Danube to increase food exports from its river ports, and is ready to demonstrate the activity to Romania, said Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Yuriy Vaskov. quoted by Reuters.

The clarifications came in the context of Bucharest asking Kyiv to immediately stop dredging work on Bastro, unless it is aimed exclusively at maintaining the waterway, and requesting emergency access to the area to check what work has been done.

The scandal erupted on February 15 after Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu said that “there are signals that Ukraine is currently dredging the Bastro Canal, which may have an impact on the environment and the Danube Delta,” and “the Ministry of Business, Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Natural Resources should act with the position and inform”:

• “There are some international agreements that we must respect. We provoked this meeting at the Ministry of Transport, although it is not necessarily the work of MTS.
• This is more a matter that belongs to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Environment, because we are talking about international treaties that everyone must respect, and because we are talking about the possible impact of such dredging operations at Bastroe on the environment and the Danube Delta.”

The following day (February 16), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it would convey to the European Commission that Romania opposes Ukraine’s intention – which is not new – to carry out dredging work on the Bastro Canal, clarifying that it was not any institution in Romania that reported the deepening of the canal Bastro, which will now be made by Ukrainians. The MAE recalled the position of Romania, which does not agree with the proposal to include the Danube branches of Chile and Bastro in the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).

Prime Minister Nicolae Chuke also reacted to this scandal, saying that the ambassador of Ukraine in Bucharest was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get Ukraine’s consent for the Romanian authorities to go there to check.

President Klaus Iohannis also spoke out, saying that “concern for the preservation of the biodiversity of the Danube Delta should not be confused with the various current political approaches”.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to attack Ukrainians based on unspecified data at the moment. They don’t need to be scolded,” Yohannis said.

He accused that “our politicians are chasing publicity, on the eve of the elections”, “commenting without knowing what exactly is happening”, and this conflict will benefit Moscow.

Two days after Yohannis’ intervention, Prime Minister Chuke said “there is evidence and information that the dredging was more than agreed” but “it is unnatural for such a topic to be discussed and speculated politically”.