Costesti-Stinca Dam

The Costesti-Stânca hydrotechnical node on the Prut river is one of the most beautiful, but also the most useful hydrotechnical constructions in Romania.

The dam impresses not only in Moldova, but also in Europe, being the third in Europe in terms of water retention capacity and the extent of the reservoir.

The Stânca dam has a height of 48 meters and a capacity of 1.4 billion cubic meters of water, with a reservoir spread over an area of 6,000 hectares at average capacity, and if necessary, being able to expand and on 9,000 hectares at maximum retention. The dam has a width of 1500 meters, the power of the hydropower plant is 32 thousand kWt

According to the "Agreement between the government of the Socialist Republic of Romania and the government of the USSR regarding the joint construction of the Stânca-Costeşti Hydrotechnical Junction on the Prut River, as well as its operating conditions", published in the Official Bulletin of the Socialist Republic of Romania from 1971, the final construction costs of the dam were 61,867,000 rubles, the Romanians contributing the largest part. It was a colossal sum, considering that one transferable ruble was almost equivalent to one gram of pure gold.

  More than 20 villages on both banks of the Prut were relocated to build the huge reservoir: Stânca, Movila Ruptă, Ripiceni, Ştefăneşti, Cinghina, Lehneşti, Raşca, Cuconestii Vechi, Şarbaca, Costeşti, Proscureni, s.a.

A historic moment also took place on the Stânca-Costeşti dam. For the first time, the president of the Republic of Moldova, Mircea Snegur, and the then president of Romania, Ion Iliescu, met in 1990 on the road that crosses the dam on both sides of the Prut river, creating the famous "Bridge of Flowers", where they attended by officials, but also ordinary people from both banks of the Prut.