July 7 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the sole owner of Moldova's Giurgiulesti International Free Port, said on Thursday that a new dry bulk and general cargo terminal will become functional there in the second half of 2023, following a $5 million (4.89 million euro) investment.
The existing general cargo terminal is being fully used, as Russia blockaded ports along the Ukrainian Black Sea coast and the Moldovan port has been helping get grain and fuel in and out of Ukraine, the EBRD said in a press release.
"The port is both a main point of entry for fuel imports to Moldova and a supplier of fuel to Ukrainian petrol station networks and farmers. While a major objective is exporting cereals from Moldova, Giurgiulesti increasingly tranships grains from Ukraine, contributing to the international effort to avert the food shortages threatened by the war," EBRD head of office in Moldova, Angela Sax, said.
Volumes moving through Giurgiulesti have more than doubled so far in 2022 compared to the previous year, reaching 804,029 tonnes, according to the port's operator, Danube Logistics. This is mainly due to increasing imports of petroleum oil products, coal and fertilisers and exports of grains and vegetable oil. Also, existing grain transhipment and storage facilities are increasingly used for grain originating from Ukraine.
In 2021, Giurgiulesti saw an average transhipment volume of 34,000 tonnes per month of petroleum products, but by May 2022, this was up to 65,000 tonnes, more than half of which was estimated to be earmarked for onward delivery to Ukraine. Likewise, grain and vegetable exports have been at high levels in 2022 – 309,404 tonnes and 99,694 tonnes respectively – with grain transhipment and storage facilities increasingly used for grain from Ukraine.
Giurgiulesti International Free Ports is located on the maritime section of Danube with available water depths of up to 7 metres and is capable of receiving both inland and sea going vessels.
The EBRD acquired 100% of the shares of port's operator Danube Logistics in May 2021.
($=0.9776 euro)