Фото: Reform.news
Hydraulic infrastructure in the Prypiats Palessie region is set to undergo reconstruction. This was announced in an interview with BelTA by the head of the Maritime and River Transport Department at the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Ruslan Maroz.
According to him, the trend of declining water levels will continue unless there is intervention in natural processes.
“That is why Belarus’s inland waterway authorities work closely with scientific organizations and river basin councils tasked with responding to natural challenges in a timely manner,” he said.
The Belarusian government has approved a development program for the Prypiats Palessie region for 2025–2030. It includes measures to improve navigation conditions by increasing water depths to at least 2.5 meters during 60% of the navigation season.
Maroz said the plans include the construction of hydraulic infrastructure to regulate the water regime of the Prypiats River and the reconstruction of facilities on the eastern slope of the Dnieper–Bug Canal. The measures are expected to address insufficient water levels and provide conditions suitable for the operation of large vessels.
Belarus has approximately 2,143 kilometers of inland waterways, of which 1,260 kilometers have guaranteed navigable dimensions. They are located within three river basins: the Dnieper (including the Dnieper, Biarezina, Sozh, Prypiats, and Haryn rivers), the Western Dvina, and the Neman (including the Augustów Canal). The inland waterway network also includes the 244-kilometer-long Dnieper–Bug Canal, which connects the Mukhavets River in Brest with the Prypiats River in Pinsk and the Svislach River in Minsk.
According to the ministry, the previously completed cascade development of sections of the Prypiats, Mukhavets, Pina rivers, and the Dnieper–Bug Canal has proved highly effective. The dams and locks that were built have increased the navigable dimensions of waterways in Brest Region and stabilized water levels on the stretch from the Trishyn hydraulic complex in Brest to the Stakhava hydraulic complex in Stolin District. According to the ministry, inland water transport on these sections has been consistently transporting cargo with high profitability.