Through its Black Sea opening, Ukraine benefits from its ports, the most important ones being Odessa, Illichivsk and Yuzhny, located in the North-Western part of the Sea, as well as the Mariuipol Port (Azov Sea). Thesefour ports serve about 70% of the total volume of goods handled in the Ukrainian ports. In order to encourage the development of the transport sector, in July, the Ukrainian Government adopted the “SeaPorts Development Strategy until 2038”, a document that aims to significantly raise the volume of goods, develop the infrastructure and attract a big number of investors.
For the implementation of the “Law on SeaPorts”, the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure elaborated the “SeaPorts Development Strategy until 2038”, a document approved by the Government in July 2013. The document aims to establish the main guidelines regarding the port and industry development for the next 25 years, and moreover, the programme is based on a new approach for the identification of each port’s specialization, the development of ports infrastructure and activity. For the first time, the Programme establishes the planning of short term projects (over 5 years), medium term projects (over 10 years) and long term projects (over 25 years), that will be implemented according to the terminal development projects and also, according to the projects developed by the companies whose raw materials and goods assure the import-export operations and are handled in ports.
The main directions and goals are based on 6 criteria, among which states the competitiveness growth, the provision of an adequate maintenance, the efficient management and the use of strategic assets of port infrastructure, the attraction of long-term private investments aimed to develop the port infrastructure, the creation of a fruitful background for economic activities and equal access to services, the provision of safety regarding the port activities and infrastructure, the reduction of the negative impact on the environment.
“The maritime industry needs a radical modernization and introduction of new technologies. We are waiting for investors who will involve in industry, who will bring a new approach in project implementation, a fact that will allow us to maintain the port competitiveness as global logistics hubs, within the international transport corridors.
The industry development needs massive investments that can be assured only through PPP, with strategic investors that already operate the Ukrainian ports. Meanwhile, the government will continue to develop the legal frameworks and will provide the stability of the specific business sphere”, Aleksandr Vilkul, the Deputy Prime-Minister of Ukraine declared.
A new method launched by this strategy implies the definition of each port’s specialization and its development on the named segment, a fact that will sustain the investment projects, through which the lessee will assure the quality of the development grade and the increase of competitiveness, taking into account the port benefits. The specialization of ports will be determined through different criteria that rely upon the types of handled goods, the territorial proximity in comparison with the delivered raw materials, production capacities, the existing infrastructure and the availability of the areas that are considered for development.
“The Maritime Port Authority will coordinate the development of each port individually, meantime, the port administration must enrol as a guarantor of investors equal access to port infrastructure”, declared Yuriy Vaskov, Head of Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority,he new state company recently established in conformity with the Law on Sea Ports- declared.On long term, the strategy will determine the growth of goods volume to 210 million tonnes per year, the attraction of foreign investments in order to develop the infrastructure, estimated to UAH 26 Billion (EUR 2.45 Million), the optimization of processing capacity to no less than 250 million tonnes per year, the assurance of an efficient infrastructure development and the growth of port efficiency to 80 %.
According to the press, the main risks, mentioned in the document, state in the growth of external competition (Romanian, Bulgarian, Turkish and Baltic ports), the re-directing of goods to other types of transport and the decrease of the demand for the Ukrainian exporters’ products.
The Strategy will be implemented by the investors, through bank credits, by the companies involved in this specific domain-related activity, Maritime Port Authority, the railway companies and railway operators, as the Strategy’s concept is based on transport industry development, as part of a sole Ukrainian logistics centre, as mentioned by Volodymyr Kozak, the Ministry of Infrastructure.
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