In January-March 2025, Ukrainian ports reduced the volume of cargo handled by 17.2% compared to the same period last year – to 23 million tons.
“In the first quarter of 2025, Ukrainian ports handled 23 million tons of cargo… For comparison, in the first quarter of 2024, Ukrainian ports handled 27.8 million tons of cargo, 4.8 million tons more than this year,” the state-owned Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) said on Facebook on Wednesday.
“The decrease in cargo turnover is due to the reduction of farmland and a decline in production in export-oriented industries, in particular metallurgy, which exported up to 80% of its products before the war,” the USPA said.
It is noted that global cargo transshipment is also declining due to market volatility and logistics disruptions.
According to the report, the largest volumes of cargo were handled by the ports of Greater Odesa. Since the beginning of 2025, they have handled 20.7 million tons of cargo: Pivdennyi port – 10.6 million tons, Chornomorskyi port – 6.6 million tons, Odesskyi port – 3.5 million tons.
The ports of Izmail, Reni and Ust-Dunaisk in the Danube region handled over 2.3 million tons of cargo.
Despite the shelling and threats from the Russian army, the ports continue to operate steadily thanks to the coordinated work of port workers. The Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ensure the safety of navigation, the USPA emphasized.
Earlier, Oleksiy Kuleba, Vice Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine and Minister of Community and Territorial Development, said that as of April, 116 million tons of cargo had been transported through the Ukrainian sea corridor, including almost 73 million tons of grain. In early March, the Ministry of Development reported that 106 million tons of cargo had been transported through the Ukrainian sea corridor, including almost 70 million tons of grain.
The Ukrainian Sea Corridor has transported 116 million tons of cargo since its launch, including almost 73 million tons of grain, said Oleksiy Kuleba, Vice Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine and Minister of Communities and Territories Development.
“Since the launch of the Ukrainian Sea Corridor, 116 million tons of cargo have been transported. Of these, more than 73 million tons of grain have been transported to the countries of Europe, Africa and Asia,” Kuleba wrote on Facebook on Tuesday following the visit of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Odesa region.
At the same time, since the summer of 2023 alone, Russia has fired more than half a thousand missiles at our ports and damaged about 400 port infrastructure facilities, Kuleba noted in his Facebook post.
Kuleba also took part in a working trip, the press service of the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development said in a statement.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that in Odesa, Zelensky held a meeting on the security situation in the region and its socio-economic development. The focus was on people’s safety, protection of the sky over the region from Russian attacks, the situation with grain exports, the work of regional enterprises and support for our people.
“It is also important for us to protect the port infrastructure. This is a matter of Ukraine’s economy and global food security,” Kuleba emphasized, noting that strengthening protection against constant Russian attacks and stable operation of the sea corridor is of course of interest to the region’s producers.
Work is currently underway to strengthen the air shield over Odesa region. The state is also constantly working on security guarantees, in particular at sea, in the sky, and on land, the Deputy Prime Minister said in a post.
In early March, the Ministry of Development reported that 106 million tons of cargo had been transported through the Ukrainian sea corridor during its operation, of which almost 70 million tons were grain.
It was also reported that on Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited Odesa together with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
During its operation, the Ukrainian sea corridor has transported 106 million tons of cargo, of which almost 70 million tons is grain, the press service of the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development (MDT) reports.
“These are 4,000 vessels that delivered our agricultural products to the countries of Africa, Asia, and Europe,” said Oleksiy Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister for Recovery and Minister of Community and Territorial Development.
The Ministry reminded that on March 1, Russia launched a missile attack on the port infrastructure in Odesa. Two civilian port workers were injured in the attack.
The attack damaged two civilian vessels: the SUPER SARKAS, a Sierra Leonean-flagged bulk carrier loaded with more than 21,000 tons of corn and soybeans for export. In addition, the container ship MSC LEVANTE F flying the flag of Panama, owned by a leading European company, was damaged. In total, this is the 29th civilian vessel to be damaged as a result of Russian attacks, the ministry added.
The volume of cargo transportation in Ukraine in January-September 2024 increased by 11.7% compared to the same period in 2023 to 263.5 million tons, according to the State Statistics Service (Ukrstat).
According to the agency, cargo turnover for the first 9 months of this year increased by 15.7% to 138.17 billion ton-km.
According to the State Statistics Service, the number of passengers transported in January-September this year increased by 9% to 1.62 billion people, while passenger turnover increased by 12.7% to 32.51 billion passenger-km.
It is noted that the growth dynamics of these indicators is slowing down. In particular, in the first quarter, cargo turnover grew by 24%, while in the first half of the year it grew by 18.6%, and passenger turnover by 23.9% and 17.2%, respectively.
The data exclude the territories temporarily occupied by Russia and parts of the territories where military operations have been (are) ongoing.
Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) transported a record number of passengers in 2024 and also reached high levels of cargo transportation, said Oleksiy Kuleba, Vice Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine and Minister of Community and Territorial Development.
“Today we can state that 2024 is becoming a record year for Ukrzaliznytsia both in terms of cargo transportation, which is more than 148 million tons per year, and passenger transportation. For the second year in a row, Ukrzaliznytsia has been transporting more than 20 million people at its facilities,” Kuleba said on Sunday at the ceremony of the first departure of the Kyiv-Budapest train.
The deputy prime minister emphasized that the volume of UZ passenger traffic is significantly higher than before the full-scale invasion, and passenger traffic to the EU countries is hundreds of times higher than before 2022.
According to Kuleba, there are large-scale plans to expand the railway network with European countries in 2025.
“For 2025, we really have a lot of plans to expand the network with European countries, our neighbors. There are plans for Romania, an increase in traffic to Poland,” Kuleba said.
He noted that demand for international rail transportation in Ukraine exceeds supply.
“So, of course, we have a lot of work to do. We will do everything to reduce the load,” the Vice Prime Minister said.
Oleh Holovashchenko, head of the Passenger Company branch, said that the Kyiv-Budapest train, which made its first run on Sunday, will continue to run on a regular basis and can become a worthy alternative to the Kyiv-Warsaw train.
“This train will help relieve traffic with European countries and make it more convenient,” he said.
He specified that in the two days since the opening of ticket sales for the Kyiv-Budapest train, more than 2,000 tickets have been sold, and the load on the first flight exceeded 60%. UZ expects it to grow rapidly.
Earlier it was reported that UZ launches Kyiv-Budapest and Rava-Ruska-Warsaw trains from December 15 together with the Polish state operator PKP Intercity. In addition, UZ together with ZSSK will launch a connecting route to Bratislava.
In January-November 2024, 73.4 million tons of cargo were exported through the Ukrainian Sea Corridor, Deputy Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure Timur Tkachenko said on Facebook on Wednesday.
According to him, the volume of exports since the start of the sea corridor in September 2023 has reached 85 million tons.
In addition, the total volume of cargo handled in Ukrainian ports in January-November reached 91.1 million tons, compared to 52.8 million tons in the same period in 2023.
Grain crops remain the leaders in terms of transshipment volumes: 56.1 million tons were handled in 11 months, which is significantly higher than last year’s figure of 39.4 million tons. The volume of ore cargo increased to 16.7 million tons, up from 3.2 million tons in 2023.
In November, Ukraine’s seaports handled 7.6 million tons of cargo, up from 6.7 million tons last year.
“Ukrainian seaports remain key points in international logistics, proving their ability to adapt to challenges and ensure stability even in the most difficult conditions,” Tkachenko wrote, noting that thanks to well-coordinated work, international support and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukraine continues to maintain its position in the global transportation market and confirm its status as a reliable partner.
Earlier, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority reported that the cargo turnover of Ukrainian ports from January 1 to November 17, 2024 increased to 86.8 million tons, of which 53.5 million tons were grain cargo.
In addition, it was reported that during the first year of operation of the Ukrainian Sea Corridor, 64.4 million tons of cargo were transported, including 43.5 million tons of grain. During this period, 2379 vessels used the corridor, exporting products to 46 countries.
