Sweden to finance study on impact of construction on Dniester river

Chisinau, 12 September /MOLDPRES/- A project in which studies on the impact of hydro-energetic constructions on the Dniester River will be worked out was released yesterday by the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The project has a budget of about 550,000 dollars, funded by the Swedish government.

The study will be worked out by late 2019 and will provide the Moldovan authorities with updated, evidence-based data on the environmental and socio-economic impact of hydropower construction.

The project also provides for the development of a new methodology for assessing possible damage to aquatic ecosystems, due to be approved by the Moldovan government. Experts will instruct authorities to use this methodology.

At the same time, civil society will be informed to raise awareness of water resources security by the population. Non-governmental organizations will be encouraged to participate in the management of the Dniester river basin.

Thus, the project will contribute to strengthening the commission's negotiating capacities for the stable use and protection of the Dniester River, which includes representatives of the central and local public administration authorities, environmental scientific and non-governmental institutions.

The commission was created under the agreement between Moldova and Ukraine on cooperation in environmental protection and sustainable development of the Dniester river basin, which was signed in Rome in 2012.

(Reporter L. Grubîi, editor M. Jantovan)