Ukraine has suspended any further work on building a string of small hydropower plants along the Nistru, just upstream from where the river enters Moldova, until a strategic environmental evaluation. This was announced by Moldovan authorities following the latest meeting of a Moldova-Ukraine commission dealing with the protection of the Nistru basin.
Commission co-chair Valentina Țapiș, state secretary at the Moldovan Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, told a press conference that it has also been agreed to extend cooperation on monitoring water quality and quantity in the shared river. Additionally, a subcommission will be created to focus on the legal aspects of the cooperation, and one particular task will be to establish a regulation for the future hydropower complex that meets the interests of both countries.
Iuliana Cantaragiu, of the National Environment Center, said she hopes the rules are integrated into the Nistru Hydropower Agreement that is being negotiated with Ukraine. “The document will serve as a guarantee for our country that the river output levels included in the regulation are complied with, which is critical for the river’s ecosystem and for providing Moldovans with drinking water”, said the expert.
