During the negotiations Prime Ministers of Moldova and
Ukraine Pavel Filip and Volodymyr Groysman have elaborated
joint approaches for the protection of the ecosystem of the Dniester river.
Considering the issues of regional cooperation within the Euroregion framework, the parties touched upon the protection
of the ecosystem of the Dniester river, which is a shared
natural resource of Ukraine and Moldova.
The sides agreed to establish a joint commission that would analyze
the operation of the Dniester hydropower complex and would offer the necessary
decisions to ensure proper level of protection of the ecosystem of the
Dniester.
In this regard, the country will cooperate with European
colleagues, in particular to hold the analysis of the impact of hydrocomplexes to the ecosystem of the Dniester river, noted Pavel Filip on the
results of talks.
In turn, Volodymyr
Groysman assured that the projects planned by Ukraine on the modernization of
the Ukrainian hydropower industry are in line with standards of European
environmental laws.
"We attach great importance to environmental issues.
All of the projects that we are planning on the modernization of the Ukrainian
hydropower industry meet and will conform to most stringent standards of the
European environmental legislation", he said.
Volodymyr Groysman suggested that PJSC Ukrhydroenergo
in close cooperation with the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of
Ukraine worked with Moldovan partners and informed about the actions, drawn
conclusions regarding environmental requirements, conducted consultations with
Moldovan scientists.
"We are open to dialogue. We have good partnership, and
we believe that constructive cooperation in this issue is very important. We will
provide it from the Ukrainian side in order to maintain the ecological system
of the Dniester river", said the Prime Minister.
He reminded that in the summer of 2016, the Government had adopted
a concept of hydropower industry development for the period up to 2026, which
set high requirements regarding environmental standards. Environmental improvement
can be included during the development of feasibility study of modernization of
a particular renovation or construction, noted Volodymyr Groysman.
"Definitely, there should be held serious assessment of
such plans, and only aftermath we can talk about design and implementation of
the project," he said.
This work should be completely open, stressed Volodymyr Groysman.
"There should be secrets neither from the public, living on the territory
nor from our international partners”, accentuated the Head of Ukrainian
Government. “We will absolutely open, environmentally friendly and will spare
no effort not just to achieve energy independence, but also to maintain good
ecological situation in our countries for the future generations ".
The Dniester river is the main
source of drinking water for many cities of the Republic of Moldova and some
cities of Ukraine, in turn, said Pavel Filip.
"All of our projects must be for the benefit of people,
and we must think about next generations, including in terms of the
preservation of nature", said the Prime Minister of Moldova.