The Parliamentarian Assembly of the European Council (APCE) demands the ceasing of all works on the Danube's Bastroe canal and the forming of a Black Sea Euro-Region, a Foreign Ministry release informs. At the same time, the Ukrainian Transport and Telecomm Ministry announced the construction of a new Danube harbor at Vilkovo, a town a few miles away from the Bastroe canal, Agrimarket.info informs.
APCE members asked the Ministers Council to invite all member states to refrain from any activities that may endanger the protected areas near the Black Sea, and specifically to put an end to the Ukrainian Danube - Black Sea navigation project that is considered for the Bastroe canal. The demand is included in the "Fighting Environment degradation in the Black Sea area" document adopted on June 23, 2008, by APCE.
On the same day, Ukraine announced the construction of a new harbor in Vilkovo.
According to Ukrainian officials, the construction should begin in two years and be completed in the next five, for costs estimated at 3.6 billion dollars.
