The state will restore abandoned dams

Ownerless dams will be included in the republican register of hydraulic structures. There are now 41 ownerless dams, according to the Government, many of which are in disrepair. They jeopardize during floods the safety of the population and the protection of areas from flooding. The state will take into account all hydraulic structures, including dams that do not have an owner. The Supreme Council of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic adopted the relevant legislations of the Government in the second final reading, taking into account the amendments of the Committee on Agroindustrial Complex Issues. Amendments have been made to the law “On the Safety of Hydraulic Structures” and to the Civil Code. Thus, the state assumes obligations to ensure the safety of the population.

The legislation prescribed in addition a more efficient, simplified method of transferring ownerless hydraulic structures into state ownership, and then transferring them to the balance of the State Unitary Enterprise "Republican Irrigation Systems", subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. The Civil Code stipulates the possibility of going to court and demanding recognition of state ownership of ownerless hydraulic structures after 3 months from the date of their registration, and not after 1 year, as the law previously provided. Dams will be registered at the request of local authorities or at the request of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The Law “On the Safety of Hydraulic Structures” will now provide for the possibility of adding dams that do not have an owner or the owner is unknown or the owner has renounced ownership rights to the republican register of hydraulic structures.

The amendments adopted by the Supreme Council will come into force on the day following the day of official publication.

The Government has a State Commission for Emergency Situations, which includes the Ministry of Internal Affairs and state administrations. The commission decides on the feasibility and priority of allocating funds to eliminate the breakdown of dams in order to prevent flooding of houses in the event of a rise in the water level in the Dniester.