Keywords: hydrographic zoning, river basin district, sub-basin, river, Danube, Prut, Dniester, lake, reservoir, water resources, management, Moldova

Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova have not only common state borders, but also common cross-border river basins. In addition, the countries share common European integration aspirations (in 2022, they became candidate countries for EU membership). Therefore, the mutual interest in many spheres of activity in each of the countries is quite understandable. The article examines the hydrographic conditions and features of the hydrographic zoning of the territory of Moldova in accordance with the provisions of the EU Water Framework Directive, the volume of the country's water resources, their use, and the institutional structure of their management. There are 3621 watercourses in the country with a total length of about 16 thousand. km Among them, 250 rivers have a length of more than 10 km each. A total of 9 of them are over 100 km long. The most important rivers that form the surface water resources of Moldova are the transboundary Dniester and Prut. In 2017 the Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Moldova on cooperation in the field of protection and sustainable development of the Dniester River basin was signed. In the hydrographic zoning of the territory of Moldova, carried out in accordance with the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive in 2011, two district of river basins were allocated for management in the territory of Moldova: 1) Danube-Prut and Black Sea; 2) Dniester. According to Aquastat FAO, the average annual volume of total water resources in Moldova is 12.27 km3/year, of which 13% are internal water resources (1.32 km3/year), and 87% are external water resources (10.65 km3/year year). With the population in 2024 3 million 035 thousand people, the indicator of total water resources per 1 person is 4043 m3/year, internal water resources per 1 person is 534 m3/year. The country has a very high coefficient of external dependence – 0.87. A modern institutional structure of water resources management has been created. The Ministry of the Environment of the Republic of Moldova formulates water policy and coordinates and controls the activities of management bodies and subordinate state services and institutions and enterprises of which it is the founder, in particular: the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Administration 'Water of Moldova', the State Hydrometeorological Service, state enterprise 'Hydrogeological Expedition'. By resolution of the Government of the Republic of Moldova in 2017 the management plan of the Dniester district of the river basin was approved in 2018. – the management plan for the Danube-Prut and Black Sea district of the river basin.

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