2023-08-27 18:06:59
Every day, dozens of huge freighters now pass by the fishing villages of the Danube delta, where the great European river divides into several branches before flowing into the Black Sea. The circulation of these 8,000 ton bulk carriers has intensified since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and even more since Russia withdrew from the Ukrainian grain agreement on July 17. While Ukrainian seaports are blocked, destroyed or occupied, Ukraine has turned to alternative routes to export cereals and sunflower oil, its main products. Among the new routes, the port of Constanta in neighboring Romania, but also the river ports of the Danube, whether Ukrainian, Moldavian or Romanian.
This season, Romania has also become the largest exporter of soft wheat in the European Union, with 1.17 million tonnes exported between July 1 and August 20, i.e. more than a quarter of exports from the EU. EU. In order to improve the transit of goods, Kiev and Bucharest signed an agreement on August 18, with the aim of increasing from 2 to 4 million tonnes of cereals per month exported from Romania, ie 60% of Ukrainian cereal exports. The region is therefore becoming a hub, vital for Ukraine’s economic survival.
Attacks on river ports
But because of this, the Danube delta has drawn the wrath of Russia. While this large wetland of 4,100 km2 seemed untouchable, because crossed by a NATO border, the Ukrainian ports of Reni and Izmail were targeted this summer by several Russian attacks. This Wednesday, August 23, and for the third time in twenty days, the fifty inhabitants of the Romanian village of Plauru woke up to the sound of Shahed drones and bombardments on the shore facing them. «This time the explosions were louder, the house shook,” testifies Daniela, in her forties, whose land overlooks an arm of the Danube. «But we tell ourselves that we will not be affected on the Romanian side, ” reassures the breeder, who was born on this plain surrounded by water and only accessible by boat.
Opposite, the port of Izmaïl, so close, unfolds along the river which separates the two countries. Firefighters, positioned on the roof of a building, extinguish the flames caused by the explosion of a drone. The attacks in August targeted cereal silos in particular. “My big fear is that the drones hit a nitrogen store, if there is one. The explosion would not spare us,” worries Tudor Cernega, mayor of Ceatalchioi, a municipality to which the hamlet of Plauru belongs.
Economic and ecological damage
For the inhabitants, the neighboring war also affects their main activity, fishing, on which the communities of the delta have lived for several centuries. «We used to be able to fish near the Ukrainian shore, but this is no longer possibleregrets the mayor, also a fisherman. Next to that, cargo ships anchor near our shores so as not to be attacked. This limits our fishing area. »
According to Dan Verbina, President of the Federation of Fish Producers Organizations of the Danube Delta, many fishermen have seen their turnover decrease, “sometimes half” in particular because of the movement of cargo ships, which “cause the fish to flee and prevent us from casting our nets”.
The war and its collateral damage also concern the protectors of the environment in this fragile ecosystem, listed as a UNESCO heritage site. The Danube Delta is a nature reserve, paradise for 365 species of birds and 135 varieties of fish.
«I went this summer to a strictly protected beach. It was covered with construction materials, televisions, refrigerators… Carried away during the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in June and which drifted to the Romanian coast”, details Gabriel Marinov, the governor of the administration of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. With the war, communication with its Ukrainian partners, who manage nearly 20% of the reserve, has become rarer. «Unfortunately, in such a situation, the environment takes second place,” he regrets.
——–
Ukraine, the world’s fourth largest grain exporter
Before the Russian invasion, Ukraine was the fourth largest exporter in the world of cereals (wheat, maize, barley, etc.), with 70 million tonnes exported. In the eighteen months since the start of the war, nearly 20 million tonnes of grain have passed through the Danube ports (Izmaïl and Reni in Ukraine, Giurgiulesti in Moldova, Braila and Galati in Romania).
From July 2022 to July 2023, the agreement negotiated between the UN, Turkey and Russia, the “Black Sea Grain Initiative” has enabled the export of nearly 33 million tonnes of grain and foodstuffs produced in Ukraine from ports on the Black Sea. Nearly 65% of these exports went to developing countries.
Sources : UN and Ministry of Agriculture in Ukraine
#Danube #delta #nature #reserve #disrupted #conflict