Ukrainian Ecologists Protest Danube-Black Sea Canal

KYIV. July 21 (Interfax) – Representatives of the Ukrainian Coalition for Wildlife of the Kyiv Ecology and Culture Center and the Pechenegi ecological organization have spoken against constructing the Danube-Black Sea canal through a wildlife refuge on the Danube.

The director of the Kyiv Ecology and Culture Center, Volodymyr Boreiko, told a press conference in Kyiv that “from the ecological point of view, the park is productive when it is not split into two parts, when it is a whole. If something man-made is being constructed in the middle of the park, there is no park.”

Much less damage would be done to the park if the canal passed through the northern or southern part of its territory, he said.

As was reported, Ukrainian and international ecology organizations are against the construction of the canal. Opponents include the European Union’s Ecology Commission. Romania has suggested that expert evaluations of the canal’s construction should be conducted at the international level.

Under a Ukrainian government decision, the Danube-Black Sea canal will be constructed in the Bystroye estuary. It will be 162.2 kilometers long.