Officially, the planning of the E40 waterway is still at an early stage, but in Ukraine, strategic documents are already being prepared and individual project parts are being implemented. In particular, in 2020, the Pripyat River was dredged within the exclusion zone URL The implementation of the E40 project has attracted considerable criticism from international and local public organizations in all three countries, as well as experts in the biological and environmental URL The international campaign "STOP E40" against the implementation of the waterway project has been URL According to experts of scientific institutions of the Republic of Belarus, the construction of the waterway will have a significant negative impact on the natural and cultural heritage of Polesia, on the well-being of the population of Polesia (1), as well as on the global carbon URL hydrological and URL situations, URL transport development. There are alternative scenarios for the construction of the E40 for the development of Polesia and transport links between Ukraine, Poland and Belarus. First of all, it is about the reorientation of the Polesia region to the ecotourism industry. This was confirmed by a study conducted by Aivar Ruukel, the member of the board of the Global Ecotourism Network and a tour operator in the Soomaa National Park, URL The press has repeatedly made statements that the E40 waterway is a restoration of an ancient transport route "from Varangians to the URL URL URL but these claims have no scientific URL The story of the project In 1996 in Geneva European Agreement on Main Inland Waterways of International Importance (AGN). Geneva, 19 January 1996 was signed. This list also includes E40 URL ("Е" is a category of Inland waterway of international significance. The numbers 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50, which grow from west to east, are assigned to the main roads, mostly north-south, that connect one sea basin to another). The map of the E40 path first appeared in a document (white paper) United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) "White Paper on the progress, accomplishment and future of sustainable inland water URL and was published separately on the resources of the UNECE URL Although some sections of the ship's course already exist, the scale of the proposed new development is so global that, according to experts, an environmental disaster in the region is highly URL February 6, 2020 Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladislav Krikliy stated that «the project to restore the E-40 river route has reached the stage of practical URL On November 25, 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the draft Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the People’s Republic of China a on strengthening cooperation in the field of infrastructure construction and authorized the Minister of Infrastructure Vladislav Krikliy to sign this URL This opens the way for the project's lobbyists to obtain Chinese loans for the construction of the E40 and increases the risks of neglecting environmental principles when considering an E40 financing agreement. On December 11, 2020, the website State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management published the Announcement of the publication of the Strategy for the development of the exclusion zone in 2021-2030. The draft strategy contains section 5.9. Development of transport infrastructure, which is entirely devoted to lobbying for the construction of the E40 through the exclusion URL After critical statements of public URL State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management promised to exclude this section from the strategy. The public campaign "Save Polesia" wants to draw the attention of the governments of Belarus, Poland, Ukraine and the European Parliament to the threat to the valuable natural territories of Polesia and to demonstrate that any decisions on the construction of the E40 waterway project should be made with the active participation of the public and independent experts. According to the coalition members, the E40 waterway project has dubious economic value and clearly poses a serious threat to nature. At the same time, the virgin territory of Polesia has great potential for promoting ecotourism, strengthening local business and sustainable development of the entire region. In September 2020, leading European environmental organizations sent an open letter to the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky. In their address, they expressed serious concern about the start of construction of the Baltic-Black Sea URL Economic indicators of the project according to the calculations of the developers The cost of the construction of the canal is $ 12 billion. According to the project's lobbyists, the creation of the E-40 will allow to transport up to 4 million tons of cargo annually. This will revive trade between Poland, Belarus and Ukraine, whose total markets are almost 100 million URL According to the feasibility study, river transport makes it possible to transport large volumes of cargo. Thus, a 900-ton platform barge replaces 18 wagons or 45 twenty-ton trucks. The E40 channel is planned to transport millions of tons of cargo that will sail from the project countries (coal, ore, metal, potash fertilizers, table salt, sugar, crushed stone, peat, timber, sapropels, etc.) to the EU and further around the world. There is a hope to see ships with the flags of the Scandinavian countries on the route. In addition, the E-40 will provide significant time savings for carriers operating in the Central and Eastern European regions. Currently, the Rhine-Main-Danube connection (3,100 km) is used for cargo delivery in this direction. However, the E-40 is shorter than this connection by almost 1,000 kilometers (2,205 km). This means shortening the journey by 2-4 days at an average speed of 10-20 km/h for river cargo vessels. The asset also includes potential cross-border river cruises URL Economic indicators of the project according to the calculations of other economists The feasibility study of the E40 project was analyzed by Belarusian specialists of three professional associations: "Business Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers named after prof. M. S. Kunyavsky", "Republican Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs", "Belarusian Scientific and Industrial Association". This analysis revealed numerous miscalculations and outright mistakes of the authors of the feasibility study. In particular, the deputy director of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers named after Professor M. S. Kunyavsky Ales Gerasimenko noted that this waterway will be uncompetitive with road and rail transport if it is not URL The experts found that the economic analysis in the feasibility study was not detailed enough to draw unambiguous conclusions.It contains various methodological and factual errors and does not comply with international standards, in particular, the standards of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The feasibility study does not provide a clear value of the total amount of investment costs and a breakdown by category of expenses. In the description of some components of the project, figures are given, the total amount of which is just over 12 billion euros. But some items of expenditure are not included in this amount, and other items of expenditure are significantly underestimated. For example, the document does not contain an estimate of the cost of creating additional port infrastructure or reconstructing bridges. Although the experts of the Business Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers im. Kunyavsky believes that the investment costs for the development of the Ukrainian segment of the Dnieper river-even without the reconstruction of bridges-are underestimated by almost 100 million euros. They also claim that the investment costs on the Belarusian site are probably underestimated by at least 900 million euros. This suggests that the real cost of the project will exceed 13 billion euros. The cost of dredging the Dnieper River alone can reach one billion rubles. UAH URL Other critics of the project warn that the E40 project in terms of cargo turnover is now unpromising and will not pay off, and the cargo turnover, that can be today (Belarus-Ukraine) can very easily be transported by rail. This route is much better served by rail. There is no point in investing money if a structure has already been built that can provide cargo turnover from North to South 20 times more than the current one" URL Transportation of goods by E-40 will last more than 14 days, this is longer than by road or rail. The idea of the E40 waterway is very dangerous for the environment and the future of Europe, and the E40 waterway project itself is unfounded from an economic point of view. URL According to URL the main disadvantages of the project are the following: Impact on biodiversity The construction and operation of the waterway provides for a change in the hydro-morphological conditions of the entire Polesia region, which will lead to the degradation of valuable wetlands under national and international protection as a habitat for valuable species, and a number of vulnerable natural territories of Ukraine. The transboundary problem of filling the Dnieper-Bug water system can cause degradation of the Pripyat riverbed, Svyatoe, Volyanskoe and Beloe lakes due to the operation of the water supply system.Many parts of Polesia are of international importance as exceptional natural monuments, which have received the status of biosphere reserves UNESCO, objects under the protection of the Ramsar Convention. Due to the fact that the E40 waterway is a transboundary project, it is subject to international conventions ratified by Ukraine (in particular Espoo Convention, The Aarhus Convention),according to which Environmental Impact Assessment should be carried out in a single package in all three URL
Officially, the planning of the E40 waterway is still at an early stage, but in Ukraine, strategic documents are already being prepared and individual project parts are being implemented. In particular, in 2020, the Pripyat River was dredged within the exclusion zone . The implementation of the E40 project has attracted considerable criticism from international and local public organizations in all three countries, as well as experts in the biological and environmental fields. The international campaign "STOP E40" against the implementation of the waterway project has been created". According to experts of scientific institutions of the Republic of Belarus, the construction of the waterway will have a significant negative impact on the natural and cultural heritage of Polesia, on the well-being of the population of Polesia (1), as well as on the global carbon balance, hydrological and URL situations, URL transport development. There are alternative scenarios for the construction of the E40 for the development of Polesia and transport links between Ukraine, Poland and Belarus. First of all, it is about the reorientation of the Polesia region to the ecotourism industry. This was confirmed by a study conducted by Aivar Ruukel, the member of the board of the Global Ecotourism Network and a tour operator in the Soomaa National Park, URL The press has repeatedly made statements that the E40 waterway is a restoration of an ancient transport route "from Varangians to the Greeks" , but these claims have no scientific basis. The story of the project In 1996 in Geneva European Agreement on Main Inland Waterways of International Importance (AGN). Geneva, 19 January 1996 was signed. This list also includes E40 ("Е" is a category of Inland waterway of international significance. The numbers 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50, which grow from west to east, are assigned to the main roads, mostly north-south, that connect one sea basin to another). The map of the E40 path first appeared in a document (white paper) United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) "White Paper on the progress, accomplishment and future of sustainable inland water URL and was published separately on the resources of the UNECE . Although some sections of the ship's course already exist, the scale of the proposed new development is so global that, according to experts, an environmental disaster in the region is highly possible. February 6, 2020 Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladislav Krikliy stated that «the project to restore the E-40 river route has reached the stage of practical implementation». On November 25, 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the draft Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the People’s Republic of China a on strengthening cooperation in the field of infrastructure construction and authorized the Minister of Infrastructure Vladislav Krikliy to sign this Agreement.. This opens the way for the project's lobbyists to obtain Chinese loans for the construction of the E40 and increases the risks of neglecting environmental principles when considering an E40 financing agreement. On December 11, 2020, the website State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management published the Announcement of the publication of the Strategy for the development of the exclusion zone in 2021-2030. The draft strategy contains section 5.9. Development of transport infrastructure, which is entirely devoted to lobbying for the construction of the E40 through the exclusion zone. After critical statements of public organizations, State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management promised to exclude this section from the strategy. The public campaign "Save Polesia" wants to draw the attention of the governments of Belarus, Poland, Ukraine and the European Parliament to the threat to the valuable natural territories of Polesia and to demonstrate that any decisions on the construction of the E40 waterway project should be made with the active participation of the public and independent experts. According to the coalition members, the E40 waterway project has dubious economic value and clearly poses a serious threat to nature. At the same time, the virgin territory of Polesia has great potential for promoting ecotourism, strengthening local business and sustainable development of the entire region. In September 2020, leading European environmental organizations sent an open letter to the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky. In their address, they expressed serious concern about the start of construction of the Baltic-Black Sea megacanal. Economic indicators of the project according to the calculations of the developers The cost of the construction of the canal is $ 12 billion. According to the project's lobbyists, the creation of the E-40 will allow to transport up to 4 million tons of cargo annually. This will revive trade between Poland, Belarus and Ukraine, whose total markets are almost 100 million people. According to the feasibility study, river transport makes it possible to transport large volumes of cargo. Thus, a 900-ton platform barge replaces 18 wagons or 45 twenty-ton trucks. The E40 channel is planned to transport millions of tons of cargo that will sail from the project countries (coal, ore, metal, potash fertilizers, table salt, sugar, crushed stone, peat, timber, sapropels, etc.) to the EU and further around the world. There is a hope to see ships with the flags of the Scandinavian countries on the route. In addition, the E-40 will provide significant time savings for carriers operating in the Central and Eastern European regions. Currently, the Rhine-Main-Danube connection (3,100 km) is used for cargo delivery in this direction. However, the E-40 is shorter than this connection by almost 1,000 kilometers (2,205 km). This means shortening the journey by 2-4 days at an average speed of 10-20 km/h for river cargo vessels. The asset also includes potential cross-border river cruises ы. Economic indicators of the project according to the calculations of other economists The feasibility study of the E40 project was analyzed by Belarusian specialists of three professional associations: "Business Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers named after prof. M. S. Kunyavsky", "Republican Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs", "Belarusian Scientific and Industrial Association". This analysis revealed numerous miscalculations and outright mistakes of the authors of the feasibility study. In particular, the deputy director of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers named after Professor M. S. Kunyavsky Ales Gerasimenko noted that this waterway will be uncompetitive with road and rail transport if it is not subsidized. The experts found that the economic analysis in the feasibility study was not detailed enough to draw unambiguous conclusions.It contains various methodological and factual errors and does not comply with international standards, in particular, the standards of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The feasibility study does not provide a clear value of the total amount of investment costs and a breakdown by category of expenses. In the description of some components of the project, figures are given, the total amount of which is just over 12 billion euros. But some items of expenditure are not included in this amount, and other items of expenditure are significantly underestimated. For example, the document does not contain an estimate of the cost of creating additional port infrastructure or reconstructing bridges. Although the experts of the Business Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers im. Kunyavsky believes that the investment costs for the development of the Ukrainian segment of the Dnieper river-even without the reconstruction of bridges-are underestimated by almost 100 million euros. They also claim that the investment costs on the Belarusian site are probably underestimated by at least 900 million euros. This suggests that the real cost of the project will exceed 13 billion euros. The cost of dredging the Dnieper River alone can reach one billion rubles. UAH annually. Other critics of the project warn that the E40 project in terms of cargo turnover is now unpromising and will not pay off, and the cargo turnover, that can be today (Belarus-Ukraine) can very easily be transported by rail. This route is much better served by rail. There is no point in investing money if a structure has already been built that can provide cargo turnover from North to South 20 times more than the current one" (2017). Transportation of goods by E-40 will last more than 14 days, this is longer than by road or rail. The idea of the E40 waterway is very dangerous for the environment and the future of Europe, and the E40 waterway project itself is unfounded from an economic point of view. . According to experts, the main disadvantages of the project are the following: Impact on biodiversity The construction and operation of the waterway provides for a change in the hydro-morphological conditions of the entire Polesia region, which will lead to the degradation of valuable wetlands under national and international protection as a habitat for valuable species, and a number of vulnerable natural territories of Ukraine. The transboundary problem of filling the Dnieper-Bug water system can cause degradation of the Pripyat riverbed, Svyatoe, Volyanskoe and Beloe lakes due to the operation of the water supply system.Many parts of Polesia are of international importance as exceptional natural monuments, which have received the status of biosphere reserves UNESCO, objects under the protection of the Ramsar Convention. Due to the fact that the E40 waterway is a transboundary project, it is subject to international conventions ratified by Ukraine (in particular Espoo Convention, The Aarhus Convention),according to which Environmental Impact Assessment should be carried out in a single package in all three countries.
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