Constanta and Galati ports modernized following the war in Ukraine

The military conflict illegally started by Russia in Ukraine combined with the Ukrainian grain crisis presented an opportunity for the development of the transport infrastructure in our country. Thus, CFR SA executed, from its own funds, within the regional railway branches Cluj, Iaşi and Galaţi, repair works under its own direction on 66.72 kilometers of railway. The works worth a total of 11.6 million lei were carried out both on direct lines and on current lines from the railway stations, which ensure the transit of freight and passenger trains through the railway border points with the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

At the same time, the government decided to modernize the Constanţa Port, and the value of the repair works for the reopening of the 99 railway lines in the port, which also included the installation of 126 track devices, amounts to 318.99 million lei, the financing being provided from the Reserve Fund and from the state budget. In Constanţa Port, repair works were carried out, with specialized companies, on a length of 43.193 km of railway (Priority 1 and 2) in three CF stations - Port Group A station, Port Group B station with subgroups A1, A2, B1, B2, B3, Triage Zone II, Triage Zone III and Mol V station with subgroups Chimpex, Triage Zone IV, Triage Zone V.

Currently underway is Priority 3, which provides for the repair work on seven other CF lines and the installation of 14 track devices, worth 38.55 million lei, with funding provided from the state budget.

As for the works on the Cluj, Iaşi and Galaţi regional railway branches, they were carried out in-house, with specialized railway personnel, and aimed at reopening rail freight and passenger traffic through the border points, but and the increase in transport capacity, taking place both on normal gauge CF lines and on broad gauge CF lines.

In addition to the works executed with funding from the state budget, works are also executed from European funds. Thus, the financing contract for the Modernization of the infrastructure in Constanţa Port, stage II, has a value of 125.606 million euros, of which the maximum contribution granted by CEF is 106.765 million euros. The financing contract for the project "Lines of solidarity - improvement of the railway line at the border Vicşani (Romania) - Vadul Siret (Ukraine)" has a total value of 48.761 million euros, of which for Romania, the maximum value of the CEF contribution is 23.158 million euros.

Apart from the infrastructure works, the number of ships that transited the Sulina sea channel and the Chilia arm of the Danube doubled last year due to the transit of Ukrainian grain. Thus, if in 2021, 2,003 ships transited the Sulina maritime channel and the Chilia arm of the Danube, the Romanian-Ukrainian border, in 2022 their number reached 3,815, and last year, 4,523 ships.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the transit of ships on the Danube has increased in the context in which Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea have been blocked by Russia, and the river has been one of the main routes for the export of grain from Ukraine. The Sulina maritime channel is the first navigation route on the Danube from the territory of Romania recognized by an international treaty and the only navigable channel in the Delta, and the transit of the maritime Danube is only possible if there is a pilot of AFDJ Galaţi on board the vessel.

Through the modernizations made in the ports of Galati and Constanţa, the transit capacity of Ukrainian grains increased from 2 million tons per month to 4 million tons per month, according to the statements of President Klaus Iohannis on October 10 when he signed, in Bucharest, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski raising the relationship between Romania and Ukraine to the level of Strategic Partnership.