The Supreme Rada of Kyiv has ratified the agreement on cooperation in the protection and sustainable development of the Nistru River basin between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of Moldova. According to the Green Ecologist Party of Moldova (PVE), a series of measures have been taken during the last five years to persuade the authorities in Kiev to ratify the agreement.

“The given agreement was signed by the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine in 2012. The document was ratified by Moldova also in 2012. The Supreme Rada of Kiev avoided ratifying this agreement. Under the pressure of the Green Ecologist Party of Moldova and the Green Party of Ukraine and with the support of the European Green Party and the Green MEPs, this was ratified,” Anatolie Prohnitski, of the Green Ecologist Party of Moldova, stated for IPN.

According to Prohnitski, with the agreement not ratified, Ukraine had no obligation concerning the Nistru River and its basin. From now on, all the measures that the Ukrainian authorities intend to take concerning the use of the Nistru River will be coordinated with the Republic of Moldova. When fishing on the Nistru River in Moldova was banned, they fished in the river on the section that goes through Ukraine and this wasn’t normal.

“The agreement has clear provisions as to how a border river should be managed with no one being affected. It is a legal act that should be respected and we can complain if it is broken. They will be unable to build dams against which we struggled because we have a signed and ratified agreement,” stated Anatolie Prohnitski.

The agreement on cooperation in the protection and sustainable development of the Nistru River basin between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of Moldova was signed by the sides in Rome in 2012.