According to the Ukrainian publication Stolicinaie Novosti, Romania has overestimated the environmental danger to emerge by the building of the great depth shipping canal on the Chilia and Bastroe branches of the Danube in order to keep the monopoly on the navigable parts of the Danube Romania has monopolized the navigable parts of the Danube by building three artificial canals and a fourth one is to open soon, the above-mentioned publication claims in a report on a media forum Kiev has recently housed, an event pursuing to identify the threats against the Danube Delta ecosystem. According to the Ukrainian publication, it was God Himself who helped Ukraine develop its own transport network on its nine navigable riverbeds. Romania's opposition to the Bastroe canal is predictable, the report argues, because the country runs the risk of losing the monopoly and facing a smaller number of ships transiting its canals. As for the benefits the Danube-Black Sea canal involves, Ukrainian experts and journalists attending the Kiev forum outlined the fact that the Romanian canals could be used only at daytime and one-way, whereas the Ukrainian one was functional nonstop, also allowing for direction switch. The Ukrainian publication mentions that no Bucharest delegation of experts or journalists attended the media forum in Kiev, which is taken for a clue that "Romania has got nothing to say to defend its view". There is also added that both Romanian press and experts were invited to attend, but they dismissed the invitation. (D.E.)