going ships to use the Bystroe channel until 1994, when its lower portion silted up due to poor Ukrainian government finances. The Romanian channel uses a system of locks to move ships between the Black Sea and the Sulima estuary. Ukraine began construction on last May and put the canal into operation some two months ahead of schedule. The accelerated completion of the works project allowed Ukraine to present critics with a working canal well before its opponents organized a proper campaign to stop it, according to an editorial in the weekly Zerkalo Nedeli newspaper.
