The pollution of the Nistru has caused damages amounting to billions of lei, according to the Minister of Environment, Gheorghe Hajder. The official claims that the administration in Chisinau will demand compensation from Moscow.
Hajder further clarified on Radio Moldova that the source of pollution and the risks of spreading have been stopped, but petroleum substances remain in certain areas of the river, including on the banks and in vegetation. According to him, all estimates are preliminary.
“Our colleagues from the Environmental Protection Inspectorate document everything that happens every day, so that we can compile a comprehensive report, which we then forward to those who are guilty, namely the Russian Federation, and demand damages. I am sure they will be in the order of billions, because we are not only talking about material costs and intervention costs, such as the cost of all these materials or human intervention, but we are talking about the damage to the environment and ecosystems in general,” declared the head of the Environment.
Gheorghe Hajder further reported that officials from the Ministry of Environment are currently working on a project to create a network of regional repositories on the Dniester. Thus, the authorities aim to enable any team to intervene in any corner of the country, in less than an hour and a half.
In the middle of March, a state of alert was established on the Dniester in Moldova, according to realitatea.md. The measure was taken after, as a result of the Russian bombings on the Novodnestrosvk power plant, petroleum products leaked into the river.
Following the incident, the agreed ambassador of Russia, Oleg Ozerov, was summoned to the diplomacy in Chisinau, where he was presented with water containers and a protest note was forwarded to him.