Home Intermodal Ukraine shows intent to cooperate on port infrastructure in the Danube region

Ukraine shows intent to cooperate on port infrastructure in the Danube region

Ukraine shows intent to cooperate on port infrastructure in the Danube region

The Working Community of the Danube Countries (WCDC) is currently engaged in a project to develop the portside areas of the Danube River. Ukraine has recently announced it will join the cause.

The East-European nation of Ukraine has recently joined a memorandum of understanding with the WCDC, to work on a series of projects for the Danube River and Black Sea ports. According to a report, Austria issued an invitation for Ukraine to join the memorandum. The people who signed the memorandum are the regional administrators of the Black Sea region and its ports. Among the officials at the meeting, authorities from Varna and Burgas (Bulgaria), Galați and Constanța (Romania) and the Odessa port region (Ukraine) were present. A representative from the WCDC, in Austria, presided over the discussion panel.

This memorandum is intended to increase the level of cooperation between the Danube-region countries. The aim is to create a strong region, good for economic development, thanks to cargo shipments between the river ports and the sea port terminals. The memorandum is there to ensure a means for discussions between the countries involved, by presenting various projects to benefit the Danube ports. Any of the member-states will be able to collaborate on mutually-acceptable means to finance the projects.

From the Ukraine, various officials were present at the meeting to sign the memorandum. These include, but are not limited to leaders of the Odesa region, the mayors of the Odesa and of the Chornomorsk cities, managers of the Ukrainian Sea Port Authority and authorities from the Odesa and Chornomorsk maritime merchandise ports.

News of the signing came from Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan, at a meeting with the Austrian Ambassador to Ukraine, Hermine Poppeller.

The Danube region is composed of approximately 115 million inhabitants, from 14 countries, with the river passing through ten of the 14 and four of the state capitals. Officially, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Ukraine are part of the Danube Region.