Ukraine considers the Chilia branch of the Danube “inland waterway”

Ukraine intends to dredge not only the Bystroye canal, but also an important portion of the Chilia canal, shows a study done by a company that wants to build a new terminal for the transport of grains near Port Ismail, located on the Danube branch that separates Romania from Ukraine. The study, quoted by Digi24, shows that Ukraine intends to double the depth of the arm, to more than 8 meters. Moreover, Kyiv considers the Chilia arm to be an “inland waterway of Ukraine” by a decision of the Ukrainian government made a year ago.

Nibulon, one of the largest agricultural companies in Ukraine, wants to build a terminal for grain transportation on the Danube, near the port of Ismail, located on the Chilia branch. The company prepared a more than 500-page study on the environmental impact of the investment, which was completed last year.

The work Nibulon plans to do includes building silos, establishing a fleet, as well as “dredging work and building hydraulic structures,” according to the published study, which can be viewed here. To make the investment, the company is asking for a concession of almost 20 hectares of land near the Ukrainian port of Ismail, arguing that grain transportation will be faster and more efficient, reducing costs.

The Ukrainian company’s plan includes dredging works on the Danube for the construction of the terminal, on an area of ​​10.4 hectares, which is located along the “Vâlcov – Ismail Ceatal” navigation channel, in the Ismail port area. The “Vâlcov – Ismail Ceatal” navigation channel that appears in the study of the Nibulon company is, in fact, the Chilia branch of the Danube, which constitutes the border between Romania and Ukraine.

In contrast to “Vâlcov – Ismail Ceatal”, the Bystroye canal is located entirely on the territory of Ukraine, starting from the Chilia branch and ending after 12 kilometers, in the Black Sea.

However, the Ukrainian side considers this sector of the Danube, Vâlcov – Ismail Ceatal, more than 90 kilometers long, to be an “inland waterway of Ukraine”, by a decision of the Kiev government, taken last year, shortly before by the Russian invasion.

“The Vâlcov – Ismail Ceatal navigation channel, in accordance with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine no. 136, dated February 9, 2022, is an inland waterway of Ukraine, having the following approved dimensions: length 95.445 km; width 120 m; depth 8.23 ​​m (from sea level); in relation to the projected depth of 8.23 ​​m, the specification is made of “unrealized depth due to the non-completion of the works”, according to the Nibulon study.

The dredging works in the Ismail port area, for the construction of the new terminal, will be done in stages, until the depth of 8.23 ​​m is reached, according to the project. The document states that the last stage will be achieved if “the Ukrainian state will start dredging works on the Vâlcov – Ismail Ceatal navigation channel and the downstream sections”.

The average depth of the Chilia branch is about 4 meters at the moment. The deepening of the arm would further increase the volume of water transported by this arm of the Danube, which anyway has about 60% of the Danube’s flow, which would lead to a decrease in the water level in the other areas of the Danube Delta, with major consequences for biodiversity, experts warn environmental.

The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine recently announced in a post on Twitter that the navigation depth on the Bâstroe Canal has increased from 3.9 to 6.5 meters.