Tiraspol, 12 September. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. Prime Minister Pavel Prokudin held a working meeting on the ecology of the Dniester River and the functioning of the Dubossary hydroelectric power station. The meeting was attended by the leadership of the Ministry of Regional Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director of the State Unitary Enterprise Dubossary HPS Andrey Sipchenko, as well as Director General of JSC Bendery River Port Viktor Andrievsky.
At the start of the meeting Andrey Sipchenko informed the government on the deteriorating technical sate of individual facilities of the station which due to a number of objective reasons require special attention, the government's press service reports.
«The hydrotechnical constructions are in acceptable condition. A lot of efforts and funds have been applied to achieve this result. There is, however, one significant problem: the dam is experiencing quite a heavy load from the upper pond, since the level of the upper pond is 28 m, and that of the lower pond is 11m. This difference of 17 m is putting strong pressure on the dam," he said.
Besides, according to the HPS director, there is constant penetration of water through the soil from the upper pond. Uncontrolled penetration of river water can lead to serious industrial disaster that can result in irreparable consequences for the energy and economic security of the republic.
In order to avoid the development of such a scenario, power station specialists have worked out a design to strengthen the dam. It will solve several problems at once. Firstly, Bendery River Port will continue clearing the Dniester's river bed; secondly, hydraulic facilities will be strengthened; thirdly, the excavated soil can be used to repair Pridnesrovie's back roads.
Since the restoration and strengthening of the dam are expensive works, the HPS is not able to finance the whole list of scheduled measures. To implement the project, funds will be borrowed for the Ecological Fund in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Ministry of Regional Development is also forecasting the overfulfilment of the plan to replenish the Road Fund. The ministry is planning to allocate extra funds for repaying the indebtedness to the power station which was formed in the period of preparing for Pridnestrovie's 25th anniversary. The Dubossary HPS loaned 25 million roubles to the relevant companies for the reconstruction of Pridnestrovie's road network.
The prime minister instructed the responsible agencies to complete the work on the construction documents as soon as possible and the Ministry of Agriculture to draft necessary agreements and promptly find funds in the Ecological Fund.
The meeting also dealt with a marked decline in the Dniester's water level this summer. Scarce rainfall in the winter in Western Ukraine has not made it possible to nourish our main water artery. According to announced information, with the minimal discharge of water the level of the lower pond should be 11.3 m. This year, in fact, the level has not reached 11 m. As noted by Andrey Sypchenko, «if there are no torrential rains in the Carpathian Mountains, this year's water level will be record low since 1955».
