Ukrainian grains transit Romania

Grain carriers fear the Port of Constanţa might face bottlenecking as the amount of grain from Ukraine is expected to double

Sorin Iordan, 21.07.2023, 14:00

Bucharest may decide unilaterally to
create dedicated lanes for the transport of Romanian grains to the port of
Constanţa, the European Commission said after Romanian farmers submitted a
request in this respect.

The Romanian and Ukrainian cereal
export has become even more complicated after Moscow decided to pull out from
the UN deal regarding the export of grains via the Black Sea, which expired on
July 17, and to strike the grain terminals in the Ukrainian port of Odessa.

The Romanian diplomacy chief Luminiţa
Odobescu Thursday took part in a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels,
focusing among others on this decision made by Russia. Odobescu pointed out
that by bombing the Odessa port and threatening the vessels in the Black Sea,
Russia seeks to generate a European food crisis and that, under these
circumstances, the European bloc acknowledges the importance of Romania in the
region.

Luminiţa Odobescu: I’d like to emphasise that Romania’s
efforts have been appreciated and our country’s enhanced role in facilitating
these exports has been acknowledged. So we are supported not only by the
Commission, but also by many member states which are willing to get further
involved in consolidating the port and railway infrastructure on Romanian
territory, to avoid bottlenecks in the transit of grains from Ukraine to the
beneficiary countries.

Turkey may play a particularly
important part in this respect, Luminiţa Odobescu also said, especially since
the deal on grain exports via the Black Sea was signed in Istanbul. She
mentioned that the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is carrying on
the dialogue within the UN and with various partners, in order to persuade
Russia to extend the agreement.

These developments are of major
importance to Bucharest, given that of the 5 countries securing the transit of
Ukrainian grains to Asia and Africa, Romania sees the largest transit figures. Moreover,
this year Romanian farmers expect a 20-25% better harvest than last year, so
the Romanian products, added to the transiting Ukrainian amounts, could choke
the transport infrastructure. There are fears that the port of Constanţa will
not be able to handle the situation, in operational terms, the grain market
analyst Cezar Gheorghe told Radio Romania:

Cezar Gheorghe: We might see the road, railway and barge
flows doubling. Moreover, Constanţa will be subject to extreme operational
pressure, and I honestly tell you there is no chance it could handle it, simply
because in operational terms, Constanţa is able to manage only 25-26 million
tons of grains and oilseeds per year.

Cezar Gheorghe believes that in this
context, Romania should apply as soon as possible for additional EU funding for
investments in the transport infrastructure. (AMP)