Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba that Turkey resumes regular passenger transportation with Ukraine from July 1, 2020, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine has said.
“The foreign minister of Turkey informed [Kuleba] about the decision of the Turkish side to open its borders for foreign tourists and resume regular passenger transportation with Ukraine from July 1 this year. He also said that his country will create all necessary conditions for safe rest of Ukrainian citizens in summer,” it said on Monday.
The ministers also discussed the priority tasks of strategic partnership between Ukraine and Turkey in the near future, determined the key bilateral high-level events that will be held as soon as the epidemiological situation improves.
Kuleba and Cavusoglu also agreed to hold the next meeting of the joint strategic planning group at the level of foreign ministers of Ukraine and Turkey in Antalya.
They also discussed cooperation within international organizations, including the Council of Europe.
Volumes of cargo transportation in Ukraine in Mln tons.
Transport enterprises of Ukraine (excluding the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as part of the Joint Forces Operation area) in 2019 increased cargo transportation by 8% compared to 2018, to 674.5 million tonnes, the State Statistics Service has said.
According to the report, the freight turnover of carriers for the specified period increased by 2.1%, to 338.9 billion tonne-kilometers.
According to statistics, in 2019 some 262.6 million tonnes of goods were transported by rail inside the country and for export, which is 1.9% less than in 2018.
Transportation of timber decreased by 58.3%, construction materials by 19.1%, scrap metal by 21.9%, coke by 12.1%, cement by 4.9%, coal by 6.4%, ferrous metals by 5%, oil and petroleum products by 5.7%.
At the same time, transportation of iron and manganese ore increased by 2.7%, grain and cereals by 21%, chemical and mineral fertilizers by 31.5%.
In the total volume of cargo transported by water, overseas accounted for 41%. The volume of foreign cargo transportation increased by 2.3%.
In 2019, compared with 2018, the volume of goods transported by pipelines rose. The handling of ammonia grew by 13%, gas by 1.1%, oil by 0.5%. Ammonia transit increased by 16.3%, gas transit by 3.3%. Oil transit decreased by 1.6%.
Cargo transportation along the Dnipro River in January-October 2019 increased by 22.6% compared to the same period a year earlier, to 9.655 million tonnes.
According to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, the number of trips on the Dnipro River during this period decreased by 30.7%, to 9,972.
Transportation of metal products increased by 24.1%, to 1.374 million tonnes, grain doubled, to 3.916 million tonnes. At the same time, transportation of construction materials and other goods fell by 5.4%, to 4.328 million tonnes, petroleum products by 37.6%, to 37,400 tonnes.
As reported, in 2018 river transportation in Ukraine amounted to 16.5 million tonnes of cargo.
The volume of traffic along the Dnipro River last year increased by 22.4% compared to 2017 and amounted to about 9.9 million tonnes.
According to the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, for 2016-2018 the volume of grain transportation along the Dnipro River rose by 180%, construction materials by 130%.
In 2018, the volume of traffic by inland waterways increased by 112% compared to 2013-2015 and amounted to 9.9 million tonnes.
Cargo transportation along the Dnipro River in January-September 2019 increased by 26.36% compared with the same period a year earlier and amounted to almost 8.279 million tonnes.
According to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, the number of trips on the Dnipro River for this period decreased by 31.8%, to 8,644.
Transportation of metal products increased by 27.3%, to 1.227 million tonnes, grain doubled, to 3.36 million tonnes. Transportation of construction materials and other goods during this period decreased by 5.6%, to 3.656 million tonnes, oil products by 36.2%, to 34,900 tonnes.
As reported, in 2018 river transportation in Ukraine amounted to 16.5 million tonnes of cargo. The volume of traffic along the Dnipro River last year rose by 22.4% compared to 2017 and amounted to about 9.9 million tonnes.
According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, in 2016-2018 transportation of grain along the Dnipro grew by 180%, construction materials by 130%.
The volume of transportation by inland waterways in 2016-2018 compared to 2013-2015 increased by 112% and in 2018 amounted to 9.9 million tonnes.
In January-June 2019, the transport and forwarding company Lemtrans transported 24.85 million tonnes of various types of freight, which is 3.94% down on the same period of 2018.
In the six months of 2019, coal and iron ore accounted for the bulk of loading, totalling 10.44 million tonnes (9.93 million tonnes in January-June 2018) and 8.15 million tonnes (8.68 million tonnes in January-June 2018), respectively, the company’s press service said.
Volumes of transportation of ferrous metals in the first half amounted to 3.83 million tonnes (3.62 million tonnes in January-June 2018), shipments of fluxing materials totaled 1.12 million tonnes (1.60 million tonnes in January-June 2018), and those of coke 0.99 million tonnes (1.54 million tonnes in January-June 2018).
The company notes that the observed decline is due primarily to an increase in the turn-around of railway cars and a fall in the average speed of trains (Lemtrans’s turn-around period in the first half of 2018 was 7.8 days, it grew to 8.9 days in the first six months of 2019, which is an increase by 1.1 days, or 14%).
“The surplus of the railway car fleet, associated with excessive purchases of cars by market participants in 2018-2019, which were related to problems with railway equipment, is coupled with the lack of locomotives. In general, the approach to solving problems should be comprehensive. And the first step is the adoption of a new law on railway transport,” the press service quoted Lemtrans CEO Volodymyr Mezentsev as saying.
The SCM Group owns 100% of Lemtrans’s charter capital.
