Romanian authorities will begin measuring the Kilia branch and Bastroe canal on March 15, the Transport Ministry said on Friday, the first meeting between Romanian and Ukrainian officials in the scandal over Ukrainian dredging at Bastroe.

The navigable section of the Bastro canal Photo: AGERPRES

According to the source, the technical meeting took place in the format of a video conference at the level of experts between the Romanian and Ukrainian sides, coordinated at the level of state secretaries of both sides.

How long will the measurements take?

  • “Participants agreed that the Romanian side will start measurements on the Kili branch and the Bastroe channel from March 15, 2023.
  • At the same time, an expert from each side was established as a single point of contact.
  • They will meet on Monday, March 6, 2023, to determine the details of the plan for the Chilia Arm and Bastro Channel measurements, which are estimated to last 10 days.
  • Both parties agreed that this is the best solution to clarify the conflicting information about the dredging of the Bastro Canal and the Kiliy Arm.
  • The Romanian side showed readiness to involve experts from Ukraine, as well as third-party institutions, in these measurements.
  • The Ukrainian side will ensure the safety of Romanian ships and personnel during the entire period of measurement activities,” the Ministry of Transport reported.

The scandal surrounding the dredging of the Bastro canal

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, Ukrainian Deputy Infrastructure Minister Yuriy said a week ago. Vaskova, 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 a matter 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.”

READ ALSO: Grindean: ‘What, I had to lie?’

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.

A week ago, President Klaus Iohannis was also the first to react, saying that “concerns 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”.

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