The Association of Nistru Keepers Eco-Tiras says that a bill which at face value aims to expand navigation on the Nistru and the Prut, Moldova’s two largest rivers, could destroy their ecosystems.

The bill, tabled by a PAS lawmaker, proposes the construction of temporary piers on the Nistru and the Prut on a seasonal basis to facilitate grain exports. To make the waterways more navigable, extraction of sand and gravel would be allowed from the rivers, and Eco-Tiras executive director Ilya Trombitsky claims this is the real motive behind the bill.

“The bill aims to facilitate transportation of grains by water. Under the draft law, this will be possible by creating temporary piers for a period of two months each year, when exports usually occur, that is, from July to September or October. These are also the months when water levels are the lowest. All the restrictions that keep the Nistru and the Prut the way the are today are being removed, as it seems under this bill”, Trombitsky told a press conference.

The draft law also appears to allow activities that are banned today, such as felling near the riverbed, as well as extraction of sand and river rock.

“Access roads will be built towards these temporary piers. Various economic activities will be allowed within a 30-meter strip from the water, whereas previously this strip was strictly protected. Felling of forest strips will be allowed as well. Under this bill, compensation will no longer be required for the damage of biodiversity of the Nistru and the Prut. We believe the real goal of this bill is to take the sand and river rock from the Prut and the Nistru and sell them. This bill comes from the parliamentary majority, so the likelihood of it being adopted is high”, said Trombitsky.

Introduced in May, the bill hasn’t been put out for public consultation yet and doesn’t have the Government’s endorsement either.