Romania aims to boost Ukrainian grain transit through Constanta port: Reuters
The Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Romania, Sorin Grindeanu (Photo: flickr.com/georgiangovernment)
Romania intends to double the monthly volume of Ukrainian grain transit to its flagship Black Sea port, Constanta, to 4 million tons in the coming months, particularly through the Danube river, according to a statement by the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Romania, Sorin Grindeanu, cited by Reuters.
According to him, by hiring additional personnel to facilitate vessel passage in the Sulina Danube Channel and completing infrastructure construction projects, many of which are funded by the EU, Romania will be able to increase the transit capacity.
"I have underlined the importance of Romanian rail, road and naval transport routes to maintain a constant flow for Ukrainian exports. It was a good meeting which will lead us through the agreed measures to raise grain transit capacity from over 2 million tonnes per month at present to almost 4 million tonnes in the coming months," Grindeanu said after a meeting with representatives of the EU, the United States, Moldova and Ukraine in the Danube town of Galati.
The Minister also announced that by the end of August, the Romanian Danube Management Agency would have 60 pilots at its disposal for guiding vessels in and out of the Sulina channel. According to him, the EU-funded project to enable night navigation in Sulina will likely be completed by October.
"When all these investments are made and the number of pilots increases, Romanian ports of Galati and Braila will automatically be used alongside Reni and Izmai," emphasized the Romanian Minister.
Ukrainian grain export
Ukraine is one of the world's year ago through UN and Türkiye mediation. Internal Danube ports like Reni and Izmail have been subject to these attacks.
Before Russia's exit from the "grain deal," Danube ports accounted for about a quarter of Ukrainian grain exports. Grain is loaded onto barges, travels down the river through the territorial waters of Romania, a member of the European Union and NATO, and further from the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta.
