150 tonnes of pesticides will be removed from Transnistria

[Info-Prim Neo article of the series “20 years of the start of the war. When should we expect peace?”] 150 tonnes of pesticides will be taken away from the Transnistrian region by the end of 2012 within a joint project of Chisinau and Tiraspol, Viorel Gutu, coordinator of the working group for agriculture and environment on behalf of Chisinau, has told Info-Prim Neo. “This project is a common initiative. There will be destroyed the unused pesticides that remained since the Soviet times. They are a bomb for the environment and should be annihilated,” said Viorel Gutu. One of the members of the working group Mariana Grama, who heads the Defense Ministry’s Ecology and Environment Protection Division, said that there are about 40 centralized storehouses in Transnistria, where there are kept approximately 150 tonnes of pesticide. They will be destroyed in Hamburg region by the German company Sava. The project will be implemented with the financial support of the OSCE Mission to Moldova. The investments will total €230,000. “The pesticide stores are rather toxic for the environment and the people. A part of these pesticides form part of persistent organic pollutants that are banned by the Stockholm Convention. These substances are easily assimilated by the human body and favor cancer, cirrhosis and mental disorders,” said Mariana Grama. It was difficult until now to remove the pesticides from the region. The Transnistrian authorities consented to implementing the project only now. The pesticides will start to be conveyed in April, but everything depends on the approvals of the transit states Romania, Austria, Hungary and the destination country Germany, and on the transportation schedule. For example, a state can allow transporting by 10 tonnes a day, while another state – by 5 tonnes. The working groups for building confidence between Chisinau and Tiraspol were created in 2010. Under the regulations approved by the sides, the specialists come together once in two months to discuss and solve the identified problems.