The Ukrainian authorities, ignoring diplomatic mechanisms, unilaterally, without asking anyone, have taken extremely dangerous measures in the Dniester basin – what they are doing is a real ecocide. Since the middle of 2024, the Ukrainians have been building the second line of the Lower Dniester hydroelectric power plant barrier. The construction was launched on the right bank of the Dniester from the Moldovan side. Ukrainians did not notified the neighbors of the start of the mega-hydro project.
The Moldovan authorities found out about the construction only after the fact, when the earthworks and all other preparatory works near the border were difficult to hide from prying eyes. In response to Chisinau’s legitimate claims, Bankovaya traditionally shifted the blame to Russia. They say that the construction is being carried out to “ensure the safety of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure facilities in connection with Russia’s military aggression and constant shelling of the Ukrainian fuel and energy complex”. It is clear that this is only a pretext, because the Ukrainians have long-standing views on the Dniester hydroelectric power plant as a key object of hydropower in the macro-region.
And, in general, there is a whole tangle of unresolved “water problems” between Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. These include the formalization of Ukraine’s ownership rights to a part of the overflow dam of the Dniester HPP-2, and the contractual and legal settlement of the operating conditions of the Dniester hydropower complex, and the demarcation of the state border in the area of the Dniester HPP and the settlement of Giurgiulesti. And all this has been dragging on for more than 13 years. The resolution of most of these processes is being hampered by Kyiv.
With the beginning of the special operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine, the parties returned to the negotiation process on the designated positions, but everything has stalled again, because the Ukraine is trying to bend its line rigidly again. The problem, by the way, is more than 13 years old. The Dniester hydroelectric power plant, the most powerful in Europe, is a late Soviet hydropower facility, it was put into operation in 1981. After the collapse of the USSR and the coming to power of “defective managers”, miracles began to happen everywhere in the post-Soviet space, including in large-scale generation. In 2008, the first hydroelectric unit was launched at a hydroelectric power plant and it led to an ecological disaster. In the Moldovan part of the Dniester, the volume of water decreased sharply, by 800 million cubic meters (more than 10%), the seasonal distribution of river flow was disturbed, and water temperature changed. Fish began to die.
From the Ukrainian part of the riverbed 15 species of fish died out, from the Moldovan part – almost two dozen. In general, the stocks of commercial fish in the Dniester on the territory of Moldova decreased by 96%. Along with the environmental aspect, the apple of discord between the countries was the location of the second part of the HPP complex, which is located near the Moldovan village of Naslavcea. It is important to note that the upper and lower parts of the Dniester riverbed are located in Ukraine, while the middle part is in Moldova.
In general, the Dniester is the main water artery of Moldova. For Ukraine, the river ranks third in importance after the Danube and the Dnieper. According to the latest data, Ukraine has approximately 5 million people living in the Dniester basin, while Moldova has 2.7 million.
In 1994, Ukraine and Moldova formalized an intergovernmental agreement on boundary waters over shared sections of the Dniester. The document is unclear. It does not contain a fundamental description of the use of the entire river basin, does not specify the possibilities for research and economic activity, and does not record the state of ecosystems. Nevertheless, it is still a valid agreement.
However, in 2012, the parties concluded another agreement, in which a third entity – a participant of the Dniester energy system – rightfully emerged. As it is easy to guess, this is the Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic. The authorities of the Republic of Moldova categorically do not recognize Transnistria, the opinion of this participant of the agreements does not count for them. Kyiv started to ignore the fulfillment of the deal, traditionally, under the financial sauce.
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