On Monday 25 September, the European Commissioner for Transport, Adina-Ioana Vălean, gave an update on the importance of the ‘solidarity lanes’ that the European Union set up in May 2022 in the Member States sharing a border with Ukraine to enable the latter to export its agricultural products, but also to import the goods it needs, especially since Russia’s decision not to renew the UN agreement on the transport of cereals across the Black Sea (see EUROPE 13224/8).
Since the beginning of the summer, “the ‘solidarity lanes’ have become Ukraine’s lifeline”, said Ms Vălean, following a meeting in Brussels with the Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov. She cited the following figures: between May and August 2023, 53 million tonnes of Ukrainian agricultural products were exported via EU corridors, worth a total of €38 billion, and 34 million tonnes of goods were transported to Ukraine, worth €70 billion.
The Danube corridor via the Bras de Sulina plus the Romanian port of Constanța account for around 60% of traffic. Ms Vălean also praised the role played by European countries, which supply 85% of the barges that ply the Danube and/or train the pilots.
The Commissioner identified a number of challenges facing the authorities in the countries involved: infrastructure security, bottlenecks due to lack of capacity, and logistical difficulties. All these factors increase the cost of transporting and insuring goods.
Mr Kubrakov mentioned a number of measures designed to facilitate and increase trade, some of which involve three countries (Ukraine, Moldova and Romania), including the inclusion of the Ukrainian section of the Danube in the international logistics network, an increase in ship capacity and the streamlining of customs procedures at borders.
With regard to the port of Constanța, discussions are underway with several European countries on the possibility of introducing new equipment that would allow transhipment to take place in the port and not on land, said Ms Vălean.
The Commissioner also announced that on Tuesday 26 September the European Commission would be opening a new call for tenders for infrastructure projects under the ‘Connecting Europe Facility’ (CEF), with a view to improving the ‘solidarity lanes’. Moldovan and Ukrainian companies will be able to respond without needing EU partners, and on the same basis as economic operators from the Member States, she added. She believes that this future infrastructure will help to “integrate Ukraine into the internal market”.
Ms Vălean also noted that capacity on the ‘solidarity lanes’ linking Ukraine to Poland remains under-utilised, with volumes transiting through these channels “three times less” this year than in 2022. “The capacity exists, but it is not being used for reasons we do not wish to comment on”, she noted, referring to the trade dispute between Ukraine on the one hand and Poland, Hungary and Slovakia on the other (see EUROPE 13255/16). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)