Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine and Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, announced that the third meeting on increasing the export capacity of Ukrainian Danube ports was held in Romania. According to him, the fast and rhythmic operation of these export routes remains a strategic area of work. During the 11 months of operation, the total volume of cargo handled by Ukrainian Danube ports reached almost 30 million tonnes.

“We are coming back with a decision on night navigation in the Sulina Canal. It has already started. We expect our Romanian counterparts to provide the necessary number of pilots. In this case, we will reach an export capacity of 4 million tonnes per month.

We continue to work together to increase the capacity of rail and road border crossings in a quadripartite format: Romania – the United States – the European Commission – Ukraine with the participation of Moldova. The two key issues we are working on now are the approval of a pilot project at the Krasnoilsk – Vicovu de Sus border crossing and the introduction of trucks and the ‘green corridor’ through the Reni – Giurgiulești – Galați border crossing between Ukraine, Moldova and Romania,” said Oleksandr Kubrakov.

The Deputy Prime Minister also stressed that in November, Ukraine started repair works at the Reni checkpoint to create conditions for joint control with Moldova. It is planned to complete these works and start joint control in the first quarter of next year.

“At the same time, we have drawn the attention of our colleagues to the need to increase the number of phytosanitary and veterinary specialists at the border. I am grateful for the leadership of Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien, as well as my counterparts – Romanian Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Sorin Grindeanu, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport Magda Kopczynska, and Ambassador of Ukraine to Romania Ihor Prokopchuk,” said Oleksandr Kubrakov.