Bystroe Canal

The Bystroye Canal is a Ukrainian deep-water canal in the Danube Delta near the Romania-Ukraine border through Kiliya and Old Istambul (Swift) distributaries. It was among the main Ukrainian waterways until 1959, when its exploitation stopped due to silting that occurred after Romanian authorities on a political initiative created own Danube – Black Sea Canal away from the border with the Soviet Union.

It is also known in English as Bystroe Canal (Ukrainian: Канал Дунай — Чорне море, Danube – Black Sea Canal; Romanian: Canalul Bâstroe) and literally means Swift Channel.

After the Prorva Canal became silted in 1997, Ukraine was left without its own deep-water canal between the Danube and the Black Sea. According to the Ukrainian NGO International Centre for Policy Studies, the use of Romanian Sulina Canal costs Ukraine 0.7-1.2 million UAH annually.

There was a project proposed by Ukraine to reopen its navigation. According to official Ukrainian plans, it was to be completed in 2008. The intent was to provide a deep-water route from the Danube to the Black Sea under Ukrainian control, in order to reduce ship transit costs and provide an alternate route to Romania.

Ecologists, including the World Wildlife Fund, have raised significant concerns about damage to the Danube Delta ecosystem. An inquiry commission established under the auspices of the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (of which Romania and Ukraine are both signatories) unanimously decided that the canal would have a significant adverse ecological impact.

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