Romania has announced a tender for the repair of a broad-gauge railway connecting its Danube river port of Galati and the Moldovan river port of Giurgiulesti in order to transport grain from Ukraine without changing the rolling stock, since exports from Ukrainian seaports are blocked by warships of the aggressor country of the Russian Federation.
On the relevant statement of the Minister of Transport of Romania, Sorin Grindeanu, MP of Ukraine Dmitry Solomchuk (Servant of the People faction) wrote on his Telegram channel on Monday.
“Romania plans to urgently repair the old broad-gauge railway connecting the port of Galati from Giurgiulesti, located across the border with Moldova, so that freight trains loaded with grain from Ukraine can reach the ships without wasting time changing wheels at the border. A tender has been announced,” the MP said. in the social network.
According to Solomchuk, the advantage of the port of Galati is the ability to load both river and sea vessels.
Transportation of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea remains the cheapest solution, despite the increase in the cost of ship insurance due to the Russian blockade of the Black Sea.
“Minister of Transport Sorin Grindeanu said that this Danube port, together with the port of Constanta, will become one of the key points in the region for the transport of goods and raw materials. Ukraine exports most of its grain to North Africa, and the Black Sea is the shortest route. Alternatives would be through the port Gdansk or Trieste, but the routes would be much longer,” the deputy summed up.
As reported, the Ukrainian and Romanian relevant ministries at the end of March began negotiations on the export of agricultural products from Ukraine through European seaports, including the Romanian port of Constanta.
The first cargo of Ukrainian corn weighing 71 thousand tons since the beginning of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine left the Black Sea port of Constanta on April 29 to the recipient.
The countries bordering Ukraine have responded to its problem with the export of agricultural products and have already significantly simplified the procedures for registering freight traffic or are actively working on it. In particular, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, as well as Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria, Georgia, Denmark, Greece, Austria introduced liberal conditions for Ukrainian carriers.
Before the Russian military invasion, Ukraine monthly exported about 5 million tons of agricultural products through the ports of Odessa and Nikolaev, but now, due to their naval blockade by the Russian Federation, it can transport about 500 thousand tons of grain monthly. This leads to a monthly shortfall of about $1.5 billion in export earnings for the country.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has discussed with Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă the possibility of expanding export and transit corridors through Romania, as well as using additional facilities of Romanian seaports.
“We discussed the possibility of expanding the already established export corridors, transit corridors through the territory of Romania, as well as using the additional capabilities of Romanian seaports and checkpoints between our countries,” Shmyhal said at a joint briefing with Ciucă on Tuesday evening.
The parties also discussed the process of restoring the settlements of Ukraine affected by the war, and also discussed the participation of Romania in such projects.
In addition, the prime ministers discussed cooperation between countries in the energy sector, economy, business and transit potential.
Among other things, he thanked Romania for launching and operating hubs on its territory for international technical and humanitarian support to Ukraine, as well as for helping displaced Ukrainian citizens.
In addition, Shmyhal said that the countries are working on a draft memorandum of cooperation to ensure the social protection of children who have suffered in war and armed conflicts.
Later, the press service of the government reported that at a meeting of the parties Shmyhal proposed to consider the possibility of opening the Diakivtsi (Ukraine) – Racovăț (Romania) checkpoint as soon as possible and further granting it the status of a checkpoint for cargo transportation to increase transit opportunities between Ukraine and Romania.
In addition, he noted the role of Romania in the international processes of condemnation and punishment of Russia for crimes against humanity and acts of genocide that continue on the territory of Ukraine.
In turn, the Prime Minister of Romania assured that they will continue to support Ukraine in its fight and will support the tightening of sanctions against the aggressor.
SkyUp Airlines (Kyiv) is planning to transport large volumes of cargo from China to Ukraine via Poland, Romania and Moldova, and is also developing a concept for transporting cargo from the United States, for which it is necessary to go through a special procedure for obtaining FAA permits.
According to the company’s website, the company is also in dialogue with Southern Airways Express (the USA) regarding the branding of their aircraft in the colors of the Ukrainian flag and is discussing the possibility of creating “sister airlines” that could attract SkyUp employees to work on an outsourcing basis.
According to the airline’s website, in March, SkyUp performed 21 evacuation flights on the Chisinau-Tel Aviv route and transported 2,835 refugees to Israel under the repatriation program, as well as their 124 pets.
Today, SkyUp is working on the possibility of performing evacuation flights to Portugal, Sweden and the UK under the Israel-Romania program.
In addition, SkyUp agreed with Suceava Airport (Romania) on the possibility of transporting cargo. This is the closest point to the border of Ukraine.
The company has now also confirmed shipments of humanitarian supplies from Portugal and Israel to Ukraine via Poland, including helmets and clothing for the army.
It is noted that during this time the company transported 112 tonnes of humanitarian cargo. The cargo included medicines, including insulin, baby food, personal hygiene and household chemicals, blankets, diapers, etc. The cargo was distributed according to its intended purpose: for the needs of Ukrainian refugees in Chisinau and various cities of Ukraine.
Moldovan state company Energocom has announced a series of tenders to buy natural gas with delivery from the border with Ukraine (Oleksiyivka) or Romania (Ungheni).
The gas purchases are being made for Moldova due to the “exceptional situation,” the company said on its website.
“Following the National Commission for Exceptional Situations of October 13, 2021, the state of alert was announced regarding the natural gas sector. Energocom, a company 100% owned by the State of Moldova, is preparing to purchase natural gas to be supplied at Moldovan border from Ukraine and/or Romania,” the company said.
Tenders will be held for various periods, to begin with short-term gas purchases of 5 million cubic meters and potentially more for the balance of October, Energocom said.
Gas suppliers must have “a proven record of reliable and professional activity (gas supply license in at least one EU/Energy Community country and >0.3 bcm of gas trading in 2020), the company said.
The first tender to purchase 1 mcm of gas was announced on October 23. Prepayment will be issued immediately, but SWIFT transfer to foreign entities can only be carried out on Monday, October 25, Energocom said.
“Considering the emergency situation, the Public Property Agency of Moldova, the sole shareholder of Energocom, will issue a comfort letter to the selected suppliers to confirm that payments will be duly made,” the company said.
The Energy Community Secretariat held a meeting with a delegation from Moldova to discuss problems with gas supplies to the country.
Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Romania, Dmytro Kuleba and Bogdan Aurescu, noted the readiness of the two states to start a strategic partnership, “taking into account the current level of relations between Kyiv and Bucharest and proceeding from the centuries of friendly coexistence of our peoples in Central Europe and the Black Sea region.”
This was discussed during Kuleba’s working trip to Romania, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
“Ukraine seeks to officially start a strategic partnership with Romania. This means a special relationship between our states. Aurescu and I agreed to make this a reality,” Kuleba said.
The parties agreed to hold consultations as soon as possible between the involved ministries of Ukraine and Romania to remove obstacles to the opening of additional checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Romanian border and the implementation of joint infrastructure projects.
The parties agreed to intensify the activities of the working group on cooperation in the energy sector.
The interlocutors discussed preparations for the Crimean Platform summit as part of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence.
“Aurescu announced the readiness of the Romanian side to send a military unit of the armed forces of Romania to participate in a military parade in the capital of Ukraine,” the message says.
Holding !FEST has opened the first bar Piana Vyshnia (Drunken Cherry) in Bucharest (Romania), the head and co-owner of the holding Andriy Khudo has said.
“We opened a business in Romania. The first project, of course, is Piana Vyshnia in the capital of the country, Bucharest,” he wrote on Facebook.
According to him, during quarantine restrictions, the institution is open on weekdays until 20:00, on weekends – until 18:00.
According to the information on the site, the Piana Vyshnia bars chain, in addition to Ukraine, is also represented in Poland (Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw) and Moldova (Chisinau).
Holding of emotions !FEST was founded in 2007 and develops a network of creative restaurants, coffee houses and shops in Ukraine.
The owners of the holding !FEST are Khudo, Yuriy Nazaruk and Dmytro Herasymov.
