The Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company (UDP) supports the call of agricultural producers and exporters to introduce a 30% discount on rail transportation to Izmail and Reni stations, the press service of the state-owned enterprise said in a telegram.
“Ukrainian agricultural producers propose to the Cabinet of Ministers to put the ports of Odesa and the Danube region on an equal footing… The UDP fully supports the proposal of the agrarians. The enemy does not stop attacking the infrastructure of Odesa. Ukraine must maintain alternative export routes,” the statement reads.
The UDP emphasized that the Danube route is a plus of 250 km of roads or 200 km of railroad. Because of this, the Danube ports are losing competition even with the same freight and transshipment tariffs that apply in Odesa ports.
The shipping company reminds that a precedent has already been set: the Cabinet of Ministers recently introduced a 30% discount on rail transportation of agricultural products from areas where hostilities are possible, the UDP said, adding that the need for exports to move across the Danube has been repeatedly discussed at industry events, forums, and conferences. However, in the context of critically low grain prices, producers and traders are not ready to lose earnings (margin) to reduce risks.
“The discount on rail transportation will absolutely pay off if the condition for receiving it is the transshipment of grain to the state river or sea fleet. The state budget will compensate for the revenue lost by the railroad at the expense of freight income,” the state-owned enterprise says.
The UDP reminded that it is currently transporting Serbian grain and emphasized that it has enough fleet to work with Ukrainian products at the same time.
“Other Danube countries are lobbying very hard for the interests of their own carriers, because the entire Danube is suffering from an abnormal drop in rates and cargo flows. Ukraine has its own national carrier, which should also be supported and preserved,” the UDP emphasized.
Since the beginning of 2024, Ukraine has exported 3.7 million tons of cargo through the Danube ports, of which 2.5 million tons are grains and oil, said Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine, Minister of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development.
“Despite the record volumes of the Ukrainian Sea Corridor, the Danube ports have growth potential,” he said.
According to Kubrakov, in particular, the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company has started offering container delivery to the Danube ports of Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Germany and the Romanian port of Constanta, bypassing the border with Poland.
Interfax-Ukraine does not have comparative information on the volume of exports through Danube ports for the same period in 2023, but it is known that in February last year they handled 2.2 million tons of cargo, in March – 2.8 million tons, and for the whole year – 29 million tons.
The day before, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced Ukraine’s intention to expand the export capacity of the Danube cluster from 33 million tons of cargo in 2023 to 35-40 million tons.
Ukraine has managed to increase its exports through Danube ports sixfold since the beginning of the war, to 33 million tons, but intends to increase them by another 2-7 million, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
“Our goal is to expand the export capacity of the Danube cluster from 33 million tons in 2023 to 35-40 million tons in 2024,” the prime minister said at a press conference on Monday.
According to him, the possibility of launching container transportation on the Danube is also being considered, which will also increase export opportunities and create an alternative to land routes.
Shmyhal recalled that during the two years of war, more than 20 new transshipment points were opened in the Danube cluster, which ensured a 6-fold increase in cargo turnover compared to 2021.
Ports of the Danube cluster on August 1-15, 2023 shipped 1.75 million tons of agro-products, said the head of the Odessa Regional Military Administration Oleg Kiper.
“Ports of the Danube cluster for the first 15 days of August this year shipped 1 million 750 thousand tons of agro-products, and in July – more than 2 million tons,” he wrote in his Telegram channel.
According to his information, in the regional breakdown, Odessa region took the 4th place with a share in the total volume of exports of goods in 5.6%.
“In the commodity structure of exports the largest volume was: cereal crops (52.8%), fats and oils of animal or vegetable origin (15.6%), finished food products (5.1%),” – specified Kiper.
It is noted that in January-June 2023 the enterprises of Odessa region carried out trade operations with partners from 166 countries of the world. Export of goods in monetary terms exceeded $1 bln.
The number of ships in the port of Izmail (Odessa region) increased to 111 on Monday against 48 last week, according to data from the Marine Traffic monitoring application. The arrival of 33 vessels is expected.
The number of vessels in the port of Reni increased to 33 vessels on Monday against 12 last week. 11 vessels are expected to arrive.
At the same time, last Wednesday the number of vessels in the port of “Izmail” increased to 60 – in the port of “Izmail” and in the port of “Reni” – 13. On Saturday the number of ships in the port “Izmail” was already 72, while in “Reni” it was reduced to six.
In comparison, in the Russian port “Novorossiysk” the number of ships remained unchanged – 136 this Monday against 137 last week, 72 ships are expected to arrive.
The ports of Greater Odessa have not resumed their work after the termination of the “grain initiative”.
Earlier it was reported that due to the Russian night attack in the middle of last week on the seaport “Izmail” and the infrastructure of the “Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company” destroyed 40 thousand tons of grain, which was expected by African countries, China and Israel.
In addition, about 10 residential houses, 15 apartments, hotel and office buildings of the “Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company” and an educational institution were damaged or destroyed.
After the attack on Wednesday night last week, two ships heading to the port of Izmail for loading refused to moor.
As reported, Ukraine announced a military threat to ship navigation in the waters of six Russian ports on the Black Sea.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry released a statement in which it warns that all ships that from July 21 will go to the ports of the Russian Federation or occupied Ukrainian ports may be considered as carrying military cargo.
In addition, according to the warning, navigation in the areas of the Northeastern Black Sea and the Kerch-Yenikal Strait of Ukraine is prohibited as dangerous, from 05:00 on July 20, 2023.
The day before, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that all vessels, regardless of the flag, which will be heading to Ukrainian ports from midnight, July 20, Russia will consider as involved in the military conflict.
The number of ships in the port of Izmail (Odessa region), according to data from the Marine Traffic monitoring application, decreased to 48 on Monday, compared to 120 last week. 22 vessels are expected to arrive.
The number of vessels at the port of Reni decreased to 12 on Monday, compared to 58 last week. Another nine vessels are expected to arrive.
The number of vessels in the port of “Izmail” has been decreasing since Thursday, on Friday there were 113 vessels in the port, 21 vessels were expected to arrive. On Sunday the number of vessels dropped to 99 and another 25 vessels were expected to arrive.
At the port of Reni on Thursday, there were 52 vessels at the port and 12 were expected. On Sunday it was 33 and 11 were expected.
The ports of Greater Odessa did not resume work after the termination of the “grain initiative”.
Earlier it was reported that due to the Russian night attack on Wednesday night on the seaport “Izmail” and the infrastructure of the “Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company” destroyed 40 thousand tons of grain, which was expected by African countries, China and Israel.
In addition, about 10 residential houses, 15 apartments, hotel and office buildings of the “Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company” and an educational institution were damaged or destroyed.
After the attack on Wednesday night, two ships heading to the port of Izmail for loading refused to dock.
