EU delivers final batch of equipment to Moldova for the Nistru pollution control
The Republic of Moldova has received a new shipment of materials for pollution management on the Nistru. This assistance is part of the project "EU4Moldova Resilience - Safe States, Resilient Communities", which is funded by the European Commission through the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments and implemented by Solidarity Fund Poland.
The Delegation of the European Union in Chisinau has announced that the recent delivery marks the final installment of logistical support provided to our country following the attack by the Russian Federation in March 2026 on the Novodnistrovsk hydroelectric power plant in Ukraine. This attack resulted in significant spills of petroleum products into the Nistru.
The materials sent to the Republic of Moldova were specifically intended to capture pollutants from the water, as our country activated the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism in response to the crisis.
“These substances have severely polluted one of the most important sources of drinking water for the Republic of Moldova, endangering the supply for hundreds of thousands of citizens and threatening the local ecosystem. Since the onset of the crisis, our European partners have consistently supported on-ground interventions with successive shipments of essential materials to help contain the disaster,” stated the EU diplomatic mission in Chisinau.
Following the attack on the Novodnistrovsk hydroelectric power plant on March 7, a massive oil spill contaminated the Nistru River, the primary source of drinking water for the Republic of Moldova. This major environmental incident directly threatened the water supply for hundreds of thousands of citizens, including those in the Chisinau municipality, and posed a serious risk to the local aquatic ecosystem.
For several days, residents in multiple localities in northern Moldova were left without access to water.
In response, the government declared a state of environmental alert in the Nistru basin for 15 days starting on March 16, in a preventive measure to minimize environmental impact and protect public health.
The authorities in Chisinau activated the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism to secure emergency international assistance, including spill containment equipment and specialists. This led to ongoing shipments of critical equipment and materials from European partners, necessary for managing the oil spills.
Under these circumstances, rescue teams successfully limited the spread of the disaster and maintained the quality of water available to the population.
