The total volume of cargo handled by Ukraine’s water logistics in 2025 decreased to 76.1 million tons, according to Deputy Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine – Minister of Community and Territorial Development Oleksiy Kuleba, which is 21.7% less than the previously announced results for 2024.
“In 2025, water logistics remained one of the key areas of export and import. The total volume of transshipment through water logistics for the year amounted to 76.1 million tons of cargo, of which 67.8 million tons were provided by the ports of Greater Odessa,” Kuleba wrote on Telegram on Wednesday.
Based on data for 2024, the reduction in transshipment in the ports of Greater Odessa amounted to 15.1%.
As Kuleba noted, since the launch of the maritime corridor in August 2023, 163 million tons of cargo have been transported, including 100 million tons of agricultural products.
The deputy prime minister specified that more than 8.2 million tons of cargo were transshipped through the Danube ports of Izmail, Reni, and Ust-Dunaysk during the year, while in 2024 this figure was 17.3 million tons.
Kuleba noted that the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company saw a 3.8-fold increase in the average number of caravans, a 43% increase in average monthly transport volumes, a twofold increase in the share of return cargo, and a 1.5-fold reduction in operating losses.
Separately, the Deputy Prime Minister for Recovery added that the port of Chornomorsk has begun preparing public-private partnership projects with a potential investment of up to $300 million.
In addition, $35 million in grant funding has been attracted under the RELINC program for the development of Danube ports and inland waterways, as well as EUR50 million in EU funding for the modernization of port and logistics infrastructure, Kuleba emphasized.
In 2023, Ukrainian seaports handled 62 million tons of cargo, of which 56.3 million tons were for export.
In 2024, according to the State Enterprise “Administration of Seaports of Ukraine,” Ukrainian ports handled 97.2 million tons of cargo.
On December 2, PJSC Ukrnafta announced a tender for insurance services covering the liability of dangerous goods transporters in the event of negative consequences during the transportation of such goods.
According to the Prozorro electronic public procurement system, the expected cost of purchasing the services is UAH 471,691 thousand.
Documents will be accepted until December 10.
Ukrnafta JSC is Ukraine’s largest oil production company and operates the largest national network of gas stations, UKRNAFTA. In 2024, the company entered into asset management with Glusco. In 2025, it completed an agreement with Shell Overseas Investments BV to purchase the Shell network in Ukraine. In total, it operates 663 gas stations.
The company is implementing a comprehensive program to restore operations and update the format of gas stations in its network. Since February 2023, it has been issuing its own fuel vouchers and NAFTAKarta cards, which are sold to legal entities and individuals through Ukrnafta-Postach LLC.
The largest shareholder of Ukrnafta is Naftogaz of Ukraine with a 50%+1 share.
In November 2022, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine decided to transfer the company’s corporate rights, which belonged to private owners, to the state, and they are now managed by the Ministry of Defense.
Thanks to the Ukrainian maritime corridor, the ports of Greater Odessa have handled over 146.5 million tons of cargo and processed 5,596 vessels since August 2023, including 1,528 through the port of Odessa, according to Dmytro Nazarenko, head of the Odessa branch of the State Enterprise “Administration of Seaports of Ukraine.”
“Despite all the challenges, Ukrainian seaports remain an integral part of the country’s economic stability. Their security is not only a matter of logistics, but also the survival of Ukraine’s export model,” he said at a round table of representatives of the maritime and port industry, which took place within the framework of the BALTEXPO 2025 International Maritime and Military Exhibition in Gdansk (Poland).
Nazarenko noted that since the start of full-scale aggression in Ukraine, more than 500 port infrastructure facilities and 116 civilian vessels have been damaged or destroyed, 157 civilians have been injured, and 161 facilities have been damaged directly on the territory of the Odesa seaport.
The USPA representative presented the European community with infrastructure projects for the Port of Odesa and plans for their further implementation, and invited international investors to cooperate.
In Kabul, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan have established a joint venture for freight transportation—Sogdiana Trans LLC.
Sogdiana Trans LLC was founded by O‘zbekiston temir yo‘llari JSC and specializes in freight transportation, management, and technical maintenance of the Khairaton–Mazar-i-Sharif–Noibabad railway line.
At the opening ceremony of the joint venture, Hamid Khan, head of Khan Daqiq Trading, said that the company has the capacity to transport 150,000 tons of products per year by road along the Kabul–Mazar-i-Sharif –
Kabul, as well as from Mazar-i-Sharif by rail to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the Baltic countries, and others, and to import products from there.
During the event, the head of the logistics and marketing department of Sogdiana Trans LLC expressed his gratitude to the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the management of O‘zbekiston temir yo‘llari JSC for the opportunities created for entrepreneurs in the Year of Environmental Protection and Green Economy.
AFGHANISTAN, CARGO, joint venture, TRANSPORTATION, UZBEKISTAN
Almost 5,000 vessels have handled over 130 million tons of cargo, including 80 million tons of grain, since the launch of the Ukrainian corridor in the Black Sea, said Oleksandr Semyryga, head of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA), during a visit to Odesa seaport by German Federal Foreign Minister Johannes Wadefuhl and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga.
“Since the launch of the Ukrainian Corridor, almost 5 thousand vessels have been handled and over 130 million tons of cargo have been transshipped. Of these, more than 80 million tons are grain. The port infrastructure is constantly under enemy attack, with shelling taking place every week. But every employee in the industry understands the importance of their work and the role that Ukrainian ports play in maintaining global food and logistics security,” Semyryga was quoted as saying by the USPA press service.
The ministers also inspected the building of the Odesa Sea Port, which was damaged by a Russian missile strike in September 2023. Semyryga clarified that the attacks are systemic – since July 2023 alone, more than 80 attacks on port infrastructure facilities in Odesa region have been recorded.
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.
