Romanian minister of transport Sorin Grindeanu on March 22 toned down its bullish statement made one day earlier about Ukraine being ready to disclose the outcome of the controversial dredging works on the Bystroye canal in the Danube Delta – works that may have an impact on a larger part of the Delta including on the Romanian territory.

Ukraine proposed Romania to carry out its own measurements and invited in this sense Romanian experts on board Ukrainian ships, Grindeanu said. But the “own measurements” refers to “measurements carried out by Ukraine”, and furthermore, the specific calendar for the measurements was not announced.

“Ukraine has so far not allowed the access of Romanian ships to the Bystroye canal for measurements, nor has it transmitted when Romanian specialists could participate in such actions, as observers on Ukrainian ships,” transport minister Sorin Grindeanu said, according to Digi24.

The documents of the Romanian side, sent at the request of the Ukrainian side, remained unanswered, Sorin Grindeanu added.

Ukraine so far only allowed Romania to carry out measurements on part of the Chilia arm of the Danube Delta. The measurements carried out so far reportedly revealed that the depth of the Danube arm increased to 9 meters – “2 meters more than specified in the international agreements,” according to ObservatorNews.ro. 

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Gabriel Petrescu/Dreamstime.com)