8 Jul 2022 12:48

Romania repairs broad-gauge railway connecting Ukraine to Galati

MOSCOW. July 8 (Interfax) - Romania's CFR Infrastructure on Thursday morning opened after repairs a broad-gauge railway to the Danube river port Galati from the Moldovan river port Giurgiulesti to carry grain from Ukraine without changing the rolling stock.

"The work done by CFR Infrastructure began on June 6 and was completed almost a month earlier than planned. Since that moment, cargo trains running from Ukraine through the Republic of Moldova have been able to unload grain directly in the Galati port, without the need for reloading at the border," Romanian Deputy Prime Minister and Transport and Infrastructure Minister Sorin Grindeanu said, according to Ukrainian media reports.

Grain, which can thus be quickly delivered to the Galati port, will be reloaded onto a barge or will be stored in a port elevator, which has a capacity of 25,000 tonnes, he said.

An advantage of the Galati port is that cargo can be loaded onto both river and sea vessels there.

According to earlier reports, the relevant ministries of Ukraine and Romania began talks on the export of agricultural products from Ukraine through European sea ports, including the Romanian port Constanta, in late March.

The first after February 24 Ukrainian corn, weighing 71,000 tonnes, left the Black Sea port of Constanta for its recipient on April 29. A Romanian official said at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano on July 5 more than one million tonnes of Ukrainian grain had been transported through the country.

Before the crisis, Ukraine exported some 4-5 million tonnes of agricultural products through Black Sea ports, which are now blocked, monthly. In June 2022, Ukraine exported 1.41 million tonnes of grain, against 1.2 million tonnes in May.