Construction by Moldova of its oil terminal on the Danube’s bank in the region of Giurgiulesti poses threat not only for the Reni sea port’s well-being but also for the ecology of the mouth of the rivers of Prut and Danube.

This statement was made by the chairman of the Odessa region’s Council Sergey Grinevetsky at the meeting with journalists, Ukrainian media report. In his opinion, this matter may become the subject for conversation in the UNESCO, especially if Odessa ecologists and “the green” take a principle position in this matter.

According to Grinevetsky, 600 meters of the Danube bank were passed to Moldova in exchange for the Palanca village passed by the road from Odessa to Ismail. In Sergey Grinevesky’s opinion, this decision was a mistake since it didn’t remove the necessity of building of the by-pass highway for Odessa’s communication with the region’s Danube regions.

As the InfoMarket.MD agency has reported earlier, as a result of the long-term negotiations over the delimitation of the Ukrainian-Moldova border, Moldova and Ukraine agreed to change the 7-kilometer Reni-Odessa route dividing the village of Palanca for a 100-meter part of the Danube’s bank in Jurjulesti (until that time, Moldova had a 500-meter part of the bank) and a part of the railway branch with the adjacent territory in the town of Basarabeasca.

The respective decision was ratified back in 2001. And as a result of the recently signed agreement between the Government of Moldova and the Azerbaijan’s company “Azpetrol”, the multi-functional port (freight-, passenger-, oil terminal) will be built.

The port in Giurgiulesti is supposed to receive the first oil products for Moldova’s needs by the end of 2005.