The Danube-Oder-Elbe Canal will be economically efficient, states the study

Prague - The project for the Danube-Odra-Elbe waterway is, according to the Ministry of Transport, economically efficient. The connection of the Danube with the Odra appears to be advantageous. This follows from a study that the ministry has been preparing for two years. The ministry announced this in a press release today. The construction of the canal would cost 582 billion crowns. President Miloš Zeman has long supported the construction of the canal, while environmentalists oppose it.

The study assessed the impacts of the canal from transportation, water management, energy, and recreational perspectives. However, the document does not include the investment costs for increasing the navigability of the individual rivers. Studies for these projects are yet to be developed. Thus, the costs for operationalizing the canal are likely to increase.

"The results of the economic assessment showed that the most sense lies in the navigation and connection of the Danube and Odra. The Elbe branch of the corridor decreases the efficiency of the whole project due to very high investment costs in the form of long navigation tunnels," stated the Minister of Transport Dan Ťok (for ANO). The costs for connecting the Danube and Odra are estimated at 281 billion crowns. Including the Elbe in the project would thus cost more than 300 billion crowns.

According to the ministry, the study evaluated various options for the water corridor, including combinations of only some of its parts. The connection of all three rivers has proved to be effective, albeit marginally. The connection of the Elbe with the other rivers is rated as risky.

The results of the study will now be discussed by a monitoring committee composed of representatives from ministries, universities, regions, and interested parties, including representatives from Slovakia and Poland. Subsequently, additional interested committees and authorities, including the government, will express their views on the material.

Zeman has long advocated for the construction of the canal, also mentioning the involvement of China. "My dream would be for China to be involved in the construction of the Danube-Odra canal," he stated in 2015. Zeman has also previously mentioned that the project would bring 60,000 jobs for 15 years. In 2014, he received the anticorruption award "Ropák of the Year 2013" for supporting the construction of the 380-kilometer canal. Environmentalists criticized him, citing statements from experts in environment, transportation, and economics. They emphasize that the project would destroy the remnants of relatively natural ecosystems in Central Europe.