Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company designs 3 routes for barge convoys
MOSCOW. Feb 22 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company has designed three routes for barge convoys and made commercial offers to major road freight forwarders, Ukrainian media said, citing a statement by the Ukrainian Restoration Ministry on a social network.
"As the western border remains blocked, the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company proposes rerouting the cargo, formerly transported to EU countries by trucks, to river transport," the ministry said on Thursday.
The Ukrainian Restoration Ministry has designed three routes for barge convoys, including Ukraine-Galati (Romania), which is the fastest route to the EU across the western border. Given the long distance, the river convoy can make five to seven trips to Galati per month. The delivery time for containers is several days, the ministry said.
Ukraine-Regensburg (southeastern Germany, Bavaria) is another route, which brings cargo "to the point closest to the main market for Ukrainian exports," the ministry said. Goods can be brought to any point on the middle and upper Danube along the way. However, it will be longer than the route to Galati, it said.
Ukraine-Constanta is the route to deliver the cargo to the largest Romanian seaport with the possibility of further export to anywhere in the world.
According to the ministry, the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company plans to form additional barge convoys on container lines, which will provide for monthly delivery of 2,100 TEUs to Regensburg (Germany), or 5,900 TEUs to Constanta (Romania).
In addition, it can operate TEU/FEU and refrigerated containers.
River transportation exclusively by the company fleet is an alternative to 2,000-5,000 trucks, the ministry said.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister, Reconstruction Minister Alexander Kubrakov said earlier that Ukraine was planning to open a new export route on the Danube to bypass the Polish border. He added that Romania "is more predictable than the Polish border."
As reported, the new, additional Danube route is bound to restore Ukrainian exports to the pre-crisis levels.