KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine needs to start work to make its Danube transport canal deeper as early as this yr to develop its various routes to export grain, Deputy Minister of Renovation and Infrastructure Yuriy Vaskov mentioned on Tuesday.
Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia final yr, has already elevated the depth of its southwestern Bystre Canal on the Danube River to six.5 metres from 3.9 metres with the goal of accelerating meals exports from its river ports.
The push for various export routes has taken on urgency through the battle after Russia blocked Ukraine’s conventional export route by way of the Black Sea and solely a restricted quantity is shipped out beneath a deal mediated by Turkey and the United Nations.
Vaskov instructed a grain convention on Tuesday that the brand new depth of the Bystre Canal allowed ships to cease at Ukraine’s Danube ports, however that it was nonetheless not sufficient for loaded ships which have to make use of Romania’s Sulina Canal, which is deeper.
He mentioned Ukraine wish to lengthen the depth to 7.2 metres, just like the Romanian canal, and supposed to carry talks with European Union officers on the matter within the close to future.
Romania has mentioned it’s involved that any work on the waterway via the shared Danube Delta space may threaten wildlife on the UNESCO World Heritage Website and break worldwide environmental safety treaties.
Ukraine has been transporting grain on the Bystre Canal because it develops various routes for its exports.
1 / 4 of Ukraine’s agricultural exports presently move via its Danube ports, whereas half exits by way of its Black Sea ports and one other quarter traverses Ukraine’s western land border.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk Enhancing by Tom Balmforth and Mark Potter)