USPB’s Position on the Recent Developments of the Bystre Canal Project

USPB’s Position

USPB’s position as to the recent developments of the Bystre canal project remains the same as it was when the canal was still on the stage of planning. We believe based on our experience and available data that:

- EIAs for previous stages of the project were prepared with violation of the Ukrainian legislation;

- Project is likely to have negative environmental effects on bird populations, biodiversity in general, as well as ecological value of Danube biosphere reserve;

- The actual process of project development and approval does violate national and international environmental law (in terms of high environmental impacts; procedure of informing other countries on projects with possible trounsboundary effects; involvement of public in decision making, permitted activities in biosphere reserves etc.);

- Economically and technically project is not feasible due to high cost, low flow of ships and high rate of sediments accumulation in delta, which requires continuous cleaning of canal;

- There is a need to conduct overall assessment of the environmental state of delta in both Ukrainian and Romanian parts and develop a comprehensive bilateral vision on sustainable development of the region.

The issue is still important in lobby work of USPB due to the following reasons:

- Site has a status of IBA (#082);

- This case is crucial for demonstration of huge potential of environmental lobby in Ukraine;

- The project has transboundary effects and violates international environmental law.

Current Situation

The shipping canal in Bystre estuary (Danube delta) has been under construction for 4 years already. The project for its construction was aimed at creating conditions for navigation of 10,000-tonne ships. The operation of canal was justified as economically profitable. It was planned that the passage through Ukrainian canal could be cheaper and shorter in comparison with Sulina arm in Romania. The decision on constructing the canal was approved by the Ukrainian government on May 12th, 2004.

According to project, total length of the canal is more than 172 km. It includes the natural river pass and the artificial canal in the sea part (bar) in Danube entry. It should allow the passage of both river and marine vessels with the maximum length of 125 meters, width of 17 meters, and draft of 7.2 meters. The announced competitive advantages of the Ukrainian canal with comparison with the Romanian one are the following:

- two-way passage of vessels;

- 24 hour a day passage regimen;

- Lower rates.

After the initial construction work in 2004, canal was officially launched on August 23rd, 2004.

In 2005, there was high water, which resulted in silting. Besides, the state funding for canal deepening work was terminated. One of the reasons was active protests of environmental organizations. The significance of pressure from environmental organizations and its influence on the decision to delay construction is acknowledged by the Ukrainian company “Delta Lotsman” on their web-site. The company is a principal for construction and operation of the canal.

No major cleaning of the canal bed was conducted till November 2006. During 2005-2006, only ships with draft of 5.85 meter were able to pass the canal. Mainly, the canal was used by only Ukrainian Danube Steamship Line.

The termination of construction has resulted in growth of the project total cost by about 54 thousand USD according to estimation of “Delta-Lotsman”.

In November 2006, the Ukrainian Government of V. Yanykovych has decided to continue the construction. The canal was officially launched on May 10th, 2007. Before that, it was operated for 1 moth in April 2007 in test regimen. During this time, totally 50 ships have passed the canal.

Since November 2006, environmental monitoring is also conducted in the region with involvement of qualifying Ukrainian institutions, and first of all Kharkiv Research Institute of Ecological Problems. The monitoring first of all covers hydrological, hydrochemical and ichthyologic parameters. The results of the monitoring reports as announced publicly show no negative effects of the project on delta. Positive EIA conclusion was also received.

The ecological monitoring (including bird populations) is conducted by Danube biosphere reserve. They tell about negative effects of the project on biota and insist on termination of construction.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved the second stage of construction on May 30th, 2007. The total value of construction is more than 107 million USD. 16 million USD will be allocated from the state budget. The total duration of construction is 22 months. It is expected that ships with the draft of 7.2 meters will be able to pass the canal by the end of 2008.

It is indicative that since approval of the project, the official position of Ukrainian governmental officials as to canal’s economic feasibility has been changing. At the stage of approval, argumentation was provided to justify profitability of the project. The termination of financing coincided with the appointments of several new ministers of transport. Mr. Victor Bondar who was the Minister of Transport from September 2005 to August 2006, announced several times that the project is loss-making, but should be conducted with accounting for strategic interests of the country. Now, the Government of Yanukovych, including the Minister of Transport Mr. Mykola Rudkovskiy claims that project is economically profitable. The Ministry of Transport justifies that profitability can be shown based on estimations that break-even will be achieved in 10 year period. At the same time, independent experts question that this period is feasible for Ukraine with its political and economic relatively low stability.

At the same time, environmental experts, including ecologists and ornithologists from the Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Birds warn about serious possible ecological, social and political impact of the project. One of the negative effects will be for the world populations of migrating birds, for which the area is one of the most important staging sites in the whole of the Palaearctic region.

In total, more then 20,000 pairs of waterfowl breed in the Danube Delta including Common Tern Sterna hirundo, Sandwich Tern S. sandvicensis, and Little Tern S. albifrons, Coot Fulica atra, Mallard Anas platyrhynchos, Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina, Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax, Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus, Grey Heron Ardea cinerea, Little Egret Egretta garzetta, Great Egret E. alba, Purple Heron Ardea purpurea, Squacco Heron Ardeola ralloides, Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta, Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus and Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus.

Over-wintering birds include mainly dabbling ducks (predominantly Mallard), gulls (Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus, Herring Gull L. argentatus and Mew Gull L. canus), Mute Swan Cygnus olor and Whooper Swan C. cygnus, Greylag Goose Anser anser (3,000 birds) and White-fronted Goose A. albifrons (115,000 birds or 10% of the number of the population in the Black Sea-Mediterranean area).

The Danube Delta is habitat for six globally threatened and near threatened species: Slender-billed Curlew Numenius tenuirostris (Critically Endangered), Red-breasted Goose Branta ruficollis (Vulnerable), Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus (Vulnerable), Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca, Pygmy Cormorant Phalacrocorax pigmaeus and White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla (all Near Threatened).

The delta part between estuaries of Bystre and Vostochne is one of the most important habitats of waders in Danube region. It’s a key habitat for many other waterfowl. Due to poly-species composition of the bird community, the nesting period lasts from April to July.

The affected site in the Danube Delta has been recognized as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention in 1995 and was internationally recognized as a Biosphere Reserve under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme in 1998.

The construction can also have such negative ecological consequences as:

- Effect on the hydrological balance of the delta;

- Increased probability of oil product pollution of the estuary;

- Damage to the habitat, spawning condition and feeding base of the majority of the fish species dwelling in this area (including the Danube herring)

- Effect on nesting and breeding conditions of bird species;

- Negative changes in plant communities (including danger of invasive species and euthrophication); and

- Increased noise pollution in 5 km zone around canal, and negative influences on the fauna of the reserve.