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.
In January-September 2024, Ukrainian ports increased cargo transshipment by 1.8 times to 74 million tons, the state-owned Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) reported.
“According to the operational data of USPA, from January to September 2024, Ukrainian seaports handled 74 million tons of cargo. This is a significant increase compared to the same period last year, when the volume amounted to 41.1 million tons,” the USPA said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
It is indicated that a significant part of the cargo turnover – 46.3 million tons – is agricultural products. This emphasizes its importance for the national economy and exports, the USPA said. In September, the volume of cargo handled in ports increased to 7 million tons, which is twice as much as in September 2023, when 3.4 million tons were handled, the USPA said. Of this volume, 4.1 million tons were agricultural products supplied to international markets.
Earlier it was reported that the cargo turnover of Ukrainian ports in August this year also amounted to 7 million tons. The leaders of cargo turnover are grain and ore cargo – 4 million tons and 1.2 million tons, respectively. At the same time, cargo turnover through the Ukrainian sea corridor in August amounted to 5.9 million tons, of which 3.6 million tons were products of Ukrainian farmers.
In total, in January-August 2024, Ukrainian ports handled almost 67 million tons of cargo, compared to 37.7 million tons in the same period a year earlier.
In January-July 2024, Ukrainian ports increased their transshipment volume by 1.7 times compared to the same period in 2023 – up to 59.9 million tons, according to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA).
“According to the operational data of USPA for January-July 2024, the ports of Ukraine handled 59.9 million tons of cargo, compared to 34.4 million tons in 2023,” the USPA said on its Facebook page on Monday.
In July, 7 million tons were handled, the same as in June. This figure exceeds the volume handled by ports in July 2023 by 2.2 times.
More than half (4.2 mln tons) was accounted for by agricultural products exported to 46 countries.
Earlier it was reported that amid an increase in transshipment volumes in the Black Sea ports and a decrease in the Danube ports in January-June 2024, Ukrainian ports increased transshipment volumes by 1.6 times compared to the same period in 2023, to 53 million tons.
In January-June 2024, six Ukrainian ports increased cargo transshipment by 1.6 times compared to the same period in 2023 – up to 52.7 million tons, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) reported, citing operational data.
“According to the operational data of USPA, in January-June 2024, the ports of Ukraine handled almost 52.7 million tons, compared to 31.3 million tons in 2023. Six months, six ports – 52.7 million tons,” the USPA said on Facebook on Monday.
As noted, more than half of the cargo (33.5 million tons) is agricultural products.
In June, seaports handled 6.7 million tons of cargo, which is 30% more than in June 2023. Of these, 4.1 million tons of agricultural products were exported.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, in January-April 2024, seaports handled 35 million tons of cargo. In particular, in January – 6.3 million tons (4.4 million tons of which were agricultural products), February – 7.9 million tons (5.2 million tons), March – 6.4 million tons (4.2 million tons), April – 7.7 million tons (5.1 million tons), May – 6.7 million tons (4.5 million tons).
In 2023, Asket Shipping LLC increased its transshipment of agricultural products to 700 thousand tons, including 570 thousand tons in the Danube ports, the company reported on Facebook.
“The year was difficult for our industry. Attacks on the port infrastructure of Odesa region, the catastrophic consequences of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam blowing up, and the blockade on the Polish border. All of this not only caused losses and suffering to the country, but also significantly harmed farmers and complicated the logistics chains of Ukrainian grain exports. And I am very grateful to our team, partners and customers for holding the line together and meeting the challenges of the year,” the press service quoted Kateryna Rusina, the company’s director and owner, as saying.
According to her, 700,000 tons of transshipment, of which 570,000 tons in the Danube ports, is “no less significant for the company than the millions of tons when we worked at home, in the ports of our native Azov.”
Rusina said that in 2023, Ascet Shipping began loading ships in Chornomorsk, expanded its presence in all operating ports of Ukraine, and provided customers with 50 thousand tons of storage in warehouses in Odesa and Mykolaiv.
“We have introduced new services and received a quality certificate for our management system according to the international standard ISO 9001:2015. Such high results are now possible only through triple efforts, coordinated teamwork and trust,” she added.
In addition, Ascet Shipping is preparing an appeal to international courts to obtain compensation from the seized funds of those responsible for the theft of Ukrainian grain, property and infrastructure in occupied Berdiansk and Mariupol.
“Ascet Shipping specializes in providing logistics services for the export of grain and food cargo in seven ports of Ukraine: Berdiansk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Mariupol, Kherson, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia. At the beginning of the war, the company moved its production facilities to western Ukraine and established cooperation with elevators in the region and Europe. The company plans to ship cargo by rail and road to European ports.
As reported, Ascet Shipping LLC transshipped 500 thousand tons of grain in 2022. The company started operations in five new ports: Odesa, Izmail, Reni, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, and Kilia.
Kateryna Rusyna is the director and main beneficiary of the Asket Shipping group of companies, which includes First Fumigation Company, Asket Cargo, Azovalliance Group and others. She owns 60% of the shares. Four of her children are co-owners of the business and have 10% stakes each.
In July-September this year, the cargo turnover of the port of Kolobrzeg increased by 52% due to the resumption of transshipment of Ukrainian agricultural products, the Polish edition of Rynek Infrastruktury reports.
According to the report, Kolobrzeg was not previously included in the Polish government’s resolution on the transit of Ukrainian grain. In the third quarter, the port resumed accepting Ukrainian agricultural products, which helped increase cargo turnover.
In the third quarter, the Polish port handled more than 73 thousand tons of cargo, which is 52% more than in the same period of 2022, when 48 thousand tons were handled. The cargo included grain, logs, limestone, pellets and fertilizers. Grain accounts for half of the transshipment. Among the grains transshipped in Kolobrzeg, corn and barley were the most common.
The port temporarily suspended operations in April this year. Back then, the Polish authorities banned imports of Ukrainian grain but allowed its transit. At first, Kolobrzeg was not on the list of ports that could handle Ukrainian grain, but later the Polish government allowed the company to handle Ukrainian cargo.
“We have demonstrated that we are unpredictable in our actions as a country, so building long-term business relations is perceived as risky, as one decree can turn everything upside down”, said Artur Lievski, head of the port’s administration.
A week after the ban was imposed by the Polish government, the mistake was corrected: Kolobrzeg was included in the list of seaports through which grain can be transited from Ukraine. However, it took a long time to restore trust, and for some time no freight trains with Ukrainian products arrived in Kolobrzeg. After a three-month break, the first train with corn from Ukraine arrived at the seaport of Kolobrzeg in late July, the newspaper said.
