The Kolobrzeg seaport in Poland will start to act as a transit route for Ukrainian exports from April 28, 2023, and the local customs administration stands ready to hold talks on opening a temporary storage warehouse, Polish Minister of Economic Development and Technology Waldemar Buda said.
Article continues below
"I'd like to inform you that on April 28 we will add the first port of local self-government in Kolobrzeg to the list of state ports that are handling transit from Ukraine. At the same time, the administration is open to discussions on the opening of a temporary storage warehouse," Ukrainian media outlets quoted Buda as saying in a social media post.
The decree, published last week, bans the import of agricultural products from Ukraine but simultaneously permits the transit of such products via Polish ports, including four state ports - Gdansk, Gdynia, Szczecin, and Swinoujscie.
The polskieradio24.pl media outlet said, citing Kolobrzeg Port representatives, that since last year, the port has been handling mostly Ukrainian corn exports, and lost half of its turnover overnight due to the disagreements around the export and transit of Ukrainian agricultural products.
"Ukrainian agricultural products were delivered to Kolobrzeg Port. In 2022, 80,000 tonnes were shipped, and some 25,000 tonnes this year. Corn usually accounted for 95% of it. We have transshipped a larger amount than Swinoujscie," Kolobrzeg Port CEO Artur Lijewski said.
The Kolobrzeg seaport is able to transship 300,000 tonnes of products from Ukraine a year. If another warehouse is built and transshipment equipment is acquired, the port will be able to increase transshipment to 500,000 tonnes per year.
The reconstruction of critical and water-engineering infrastructure and upgrading the port entrance will help boost the amount of transshipment to 1.5 million tonnes a year, Lijewski said. Such an upgrade requires 100 million zlotys of investment.
However, the port currently does not enjoy the same financial support as other major ports. This problem can be resolved by including Kolobrzeg in the TEN-T trans-European transport network, the specialist said.
As reported, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Romania banned the import of agricultural products from Ukraine but allowed their transit to continue. Ukrainian shipments are using predominantly Baltic Sea ports located in Poland and Germany, as well as Black Sea ports in Romania and Bulgaria. ■