Grain transshipment terminal is inaugurated in Suceava

The biggest grain transshipment terminal in Europe is inaugurated in Suceava, in north-eastern Romania.

Leyla Cheamil, 03.06.2024, 13:50

The biggest grain transshipment terminal in Europe was inaugurated at the end of last week in north-eastern Romania, in Dorneşti, in the presence of Romanian and Ukrainian officials. Built as a public-private partnership project, the new terminal cost around 10 million euros. It was financed by Grampet Group, the largest railway group with Romanian capital in south-eastern Europe. Opening this terminal will solve an important problem in Suceava county, making road travel more fluid near the border with Ukraine. 240,000 tonnes of grain can be transshipped every month, and eight train carriages can be loaded and unloaded at the same time in a 128 m station.

Owing to this transshipment capacity and all the other high-level technical and technological solutions provided, the terminal in Dorneşti will become a strategic hub for the fluidity of grain traffic from the border with Ukraine to the Romanian port of Constanţa, in the south-east. With the harvesting of grain due to start in Ukraine and the grain carriages to be transshipped to the Black Sea, the inauguration of the terminal is important for Romania. The grain will be mostly transported by rail, which will make road travel more fluid in Romania. At the same time, the Suceava authorities believe the investment is also a sign of partnership and solidarity with Ukraine and welcome in terms of transport security.

Romania’s general consul in Cernăuţi, Irina Stănculescu, says the inauguration of the transshipment terminal in Suceava county is one more proof that Romania’s support for the Ukrainian state and people and the Ukrainian economy remains solid, consistent and a commitment from the authorities, civil society and the private environment. On behalf of Romanian foreign minister Luminiţa Odobescu, the general consul emphasised that Romania has stood by Ukraine from the first day of the war of aggression started by Russia and will continue to stand by Ukraine for as long as necessary, including during the reconstruction process.

The Romanian diplomat added that the public or private initiatives to expand the cross-border infrastructure with Ukraine are in response not only to economic, but also political and strategic imperatives, with Romania thus contributing to Ukraine’s integration in effect into the European single market. “Through the investments and efforts made by Romania, on its own behalf or with the support of international partners, the transit of around 37 million tonnes of Ukrainian agricultural products has been ensured since the start of the war of aggression”, Romania’s general consul in Cernăuţi also recalled.