READINESS TO FURTHER EXPORT UKRAINIAN GRAIN AND OTHER CARGO WAS DECLARED IN THE ROMANIAN PORT OF CONSTANTA
The Romanian port of Constanţa announced its readiness to export Ukrainian grain and other cargo in the future
The opening of Ukrainian ports, the prospect of which has now begun to be seen, does not mean at all that the port of Constanţa in Romania will stop helping Ukraine to export rims and other cargoes of critical export, Esmmagazine.com reports.
Representatives of the main Romanian port said that they will continue this cooperation and are already looking for funds from the EU for its expansion. They remind that after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian aggressors, Constanta remained one of the few windows to the world not only for Ukraine, but also for other landlocked countries that previously used the services of Ukrainian ports. However, the potential of the Romanian port is not unlimited. Since the beginning of the war, 1.46 million tons of grain from Ukraine have been sent through Constanta. This is a relatively small amount, but the shipments did not stop even after the first grain truck left the Ukrainian coast.
As you know, there were 26,000 tons of agricultural products on board. Instead, the Romanian port operator Comvex said that this week it will send 45 thousand tons of Ukrainian corn to Iran and a ship with 30.5 thousand tons of Ukrainian and Romanian corn to Libya.
The further dynamics of cooperation, of course, depends on "how the Istanbul agreement will work, and on the volumes that Ukrainian ports will be able to send," Comvex manager Viorel Panayt told Reuters. But, according to him, it will not stop. “We wish from the bottom of our hearts that they will be able to restore their chain streams. But we are here and ready to help," said Panait.
At the end of July, the second platform for unloading barges coming from the Danube became operational. At the output, it has a capacity of 70,000 tons per day. Comvex invested 4 million euros here with the expectation that it will be able to transship Ukrainian cargo in addition to others.
Last year, the port of Constanta shipped 25.2 million tons of grain from Hungary, Moldova, Serbia and Austria. Considering the expected new harvest, Ukraine will need to export up to 60 million tons of grain. So, no matter how hard Konstanza tries, the port will not be able to process the entire volume.
Also, the port administration reported that 183,581 tons of grain are currently heading to Constanta. In addition, iron ore and metal products are brought here from Ukraine. According to experts, the Romanian transport and logistics infrastructure already needs an investment of 340 million euros in order to significantly increase the volume of goods flows. They are looking for money in the funds of the European Union.