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However, with full liberalisation of the locomotive market, Ukrzaliznytsia will lose a significant portion of this market, or at least 40% (which is the share of SCM and Ferrexpo in total railway cargo turnover in Ukraine).
"Such liberalisation should follow the resolving of the issue of loss-making passenger railway transportation – if so, the overall effect of the reform on Ukrzaliznytsia won’t be very painful," the expert believes.
● Ships
Cargo handled by Ukraine’s 13 seaports jumped by 18.4% in 2019, topping 160mn tons for the first time in the history of independent Ukraine. The top four ports, all on the Black Sea, were: Pivdennii (Yuzhne) – 54mn tons (+26%); Mykolaiv - 33.4mn tons (+14.5%); Chornomorsk - 26mn tons (+21.4%); and Odesa - 25.3mn tons (+16.8%).
River freight continued to rebound last year, growing by 19% y/y, to 11.8mn tons. Taking hundreds of trucks off overburdened roads, barges moved 55% more grain – 4.9mn tons – and 33% more metal products, to 1.7mn tons. Petroleum products dropped by 45%, to 3.7mn tons.
Dnipro cargo should grow this year by 25%, to 15mn tons, says Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Krikliy. By 2024, river cargo should triple to 35mn tons, he told a recent transportation forum, outlining his Ministry’s 5-year plan. He said: “The development of river transport will unload the roads and protect them from destruction, and will also help to create new jobs by increasing orders for Ukrainian shipbuilding companies.”
Despite Russian harassment of Ukrainian shipping in the Sea of Azov, the cargo was up 10% last year at Mariupol, Ukraine’s largest port on the Azov. Cargo at this Donetsk Region port hit 6.5mn tons, reports the Sea Ports Authority. In 2018, cargo fell almost 10% from 2017 levels.
Ukraine's Black Sea ports handled 1mn containers last year, 18% more than in 2018, and the highest level in a decade. Ukraine’s growth rate “is several times higher than the average world indicators in the container transportation market,” reports the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority. The four private container terminals in Ukraine are investing to expand capacity this year. In order of volumes, the busiest are CTO and Brooklyn-Kyiv in Odesa; TIS-KT in Pivdennyi (Yuzhne); and Chornomorsk.
At Chornomorsk, Kernel, the world's largest producer and exporter of sunflower oil, has signed a deal with the Sea Ports Authority to invest $125mn in port infrastructure. In return, the Authority will dredge in front of Kernel’s berths. In November, Kernel made its first grain shipment to China exclusively by water. From Svitlovodsk port on the Dnipro, two barges carried 4,000 tons of corn to Chornomorsk where they were loaded on a mother ship and shipped to China.
54 UKRAINE Country Report February 2020 www.intellinews.com
