Moldova and Romania interested in transit of Ukrainian agricultural products through their territory

Moldova and Romania seem to be the most promising countries for the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products, and therefore for the development of infrastructure.

Source: Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for Ukraine’s Recovery and Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure, at the Future of Ukrainian Exports conference

Details: Speaking about the logistics and transit projects that the government is working on today, Kubrakov noted that they involve Moldova and Romania. These countries do not regard Ukraine as a competitor and see good commercial prospects for generating income from the transit of goods from Ukraine.

Quote: "Moldova and Romania felt that they could make money from transit; for them, it is additional income and we are not competitors of theirs," Kubrakov noted.

He added that Romania is currently anticipating funds from the European Commission, to be spent on infrastructure development on its territory.

Kubrakov noted that for Ukraine, this logistical route is more expensive and the margin of such projects is lower. But these projects make sense, given that Romania and Moldova have a genuine interest in such cooperation.

Accordingly, these are the countries with which Ukraine plans to focus on joint infrastructure development. In particular, there are many initiatives concerning the Danube, and border checkpoints are also being built there. In addition, it is planned to complete the construction of railway infrastructure towards Moldova.

At the same time, there is now no point in developing logistics projects in Poland, for which there were previously many plans.

"It makes no sense to develop infrastructure there further if it is impossible to use what is already there. A lot of political components [are involved]," Kubrakov said.

Background:

• Ukraine has proposed an export control plan for four crop groups – wheat, maize, sunflower and rapeseed – to the European Commission and Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania to protect their domestic markets.
• Nevertheless, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced unilateral restrictions on Ukrainian imports, prompting Ukraine to challenge their actions at the World Trade Organisation.
• Ukraine is prepared to withdraw the claim from the WTO if Poland, Hungary and Slovakia guarantee not to apply restrictive measures to Ukrainian goods in the future. But the question remains open for now.

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!