On 3 December, the first meeting of the Expert Group on the Prut River Basin under the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) took place in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova. This is the result of the cooperation launched in October 2023 under the Declaration Regarding Cooperation on the Management of International Water Issues in the Prut River Basin.

The Ukrainian side was represented by national experts from the Ministry of Environment Protection and Natural Resources, the State Agency of Ukraine for Water Resources and experts from Blue Rivers Environmental Consulting and WWF Ukraine, who are members of the ICPDR expert groups.

During the meeting, the Expert Group discussed national policies in the field of water resources management, in particular, river basin management plans and flood risk management plans in Ukraine, Moldova and Romania.

The Ukrainian delegation presented information on Ukraine’s progress in implementing river basin management plans, the results of developments in the field of drought management and restoration of free flow of rivers.

The Expert Group agreed on the priority tasks within the work plan for the period 2025-2027, namely:

• screening of river basin management plans of the Prut Basin countries – Ukraine, Romania and Moldova;
• preparation of the Integrated River Basin Management Plan for the Prut River Basin;
• development of the water monitoring system, in terms of agreeing on new monitoring points and synchronising water status assessments;
• strengthening the intersectoral dialogue between water users, including the agricultural sector and navigation.

Next, the Expert Group will work on 2 projects to prepare strategic documents for the management of the Prut River Basin – an Integrated River Basin Management Plan and a Flood Risk Management Plan – as well as on joint water monitoring. The work is being carried out with a view to their further implementation within the framework of international technical assistance programmes and Interreg neighbourhood programmes.

The Expert Group supported the initiative to hold the next meeting in Ukraine in 2025. Support for the meeting and the launch of the Expert Group was provided by the ICPDR and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.