Giurgiulesti inland port – Who will buy Moldova’s only port?

Giurgiulesti, Moldova (Ports Europe) November 20, 2024 - There is real interest in the landlocked Moldova’s little-known only Danube River Giurgiulesti Free International Port. Romania’s Compania Națională Administrația Porturilor Maritime Constanța, the state-owned manager of the country’s largest Black Sea port of Constanta, wants it. The Romanian government approved in August the acquisition of the Giurgiulesti Free International Port shares from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which from 2021 is the owner of Danube Logistics, the concessionaire company of the port. Danube Logistics was originally registered in the Netherlands, but is currently a Cyprus headquartered company. Romania wants to buy Moldova’s Giurgiulesti port from EBRD Serious interest in acquiring the port was also expressed by MBF Port Burgas, a concessionaire of terminals in Bulgaria’s Black Sea port of Burgas, owned by the billionaire brothers Kirill and Georgi Domushiev. For BMF Port Burgas this is a strategic move undermining its biggest competitor in the Black Sea – Constanta. BMF Port Burgas vs Romanian government for Moldova’s Giurgiulesti Port Separately, the EBRD is also negotiating with potential investors from Turkey, the Netherlands and Denmark… Local media in Europe’s poorest country urges Moldova’s government to buy the Giurgiulesti Free International Port – the country’s only port that gives it access to the Black Sea. Background In Giurgiulesti there are two port infrastructures - the Giurgiulesti Free International Port, owned by the EBRD, and the public port, owned by the state. The public port is not for sale, but it does not have the same strategic importance as the Free International Port, which was granted a 99-year concession and around which litigation has been going on for 10 years. The state port, managed by the state enterprise Ungheni River Port, is not of interest to maritime companies. It is small and cannot receive sea-going vessels. In September 2023, the Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Andrei Spînu said that the government intends to modernise the public port, investing $34 million in it by 2028. This money would be used to build a grain terminal with a capacity of about 80,000 tonnes, equipped with grain loaders, railway tracks and railway unloading stations, parking for trucks, stations for their unloading, covered warehouses, a new 150 m long berth on 2.5 hectares… A new terminal is also planned. The state-own port can not compete with the Free International Port which has the status of a free economic zone until 2030, is equipped with terminals for petroleum products, grains, for transshipment of vegetable oils, bulk cargo, general cargo, with container terminal, Ro-Ro terminal, and with dredging works already carried out, which allows it to receive both river and sea going ships? BMF Port Burgas In September 2022, a significant interest in BMF Port Burgas was sold to the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund. BMF Port Burgas is a private, multipurpose terminal operator of Port Terminal Burgas East II and Port Terminal Burgas West. The Port handles general cargo, containers, dry bulk, liquid bulk and project cargo. Combined, the two adjacent terminals feature 15 berths and five piers with a total quay length of 3,334 metres. BMF Port Burgas operates these terminals under two long-term concession agreements with Bulgaria’s Ministry of Transport and Communications. In 2023, the port handled around 7.2 million tons of cargo. More PortSEurope news about BMF Port Burgas There are projects for constructing four new berths in BMF Port Burgas. The port is also constructing Bulgaria’s first deep-sea container ship berth, equipped to handle specialized Panamax vessels, which will open in 2025. The container terminal celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. First caissons fixed for deep-water container terminal in Burgas Burgas is located in the region of Burgas Bay on the Black Sea coast. It is the closest large port to the Bosphorus Strait. The city of Burgas is an important logistic node on Trans-European Transport Corridor VIII and a primary maritime gateway in the TRACECA network connecting Europe with Central Asia. BMF Port Burgas sees 130,000 TEU, 7.2 mln cargo tonnes in 2023 Romanian government strategy Romania’s government acquisition will be through the state-owned Administration of the Sea Ports of Constanta, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. The deal would optimise cargo flows and turn the Constanta port into a key cargo transportation point in the east of Europe. The deal will also make Constanta more competitive compared to Bulgaria’s Black Sea ports of Varna and Burgas, which have no direct access to the Danube River. The Giurgiulesti port was created in 2006 thanks to the transfer of 430 meters of the Danube and Prut coastline from Ukraine to Moldova. The coastline was exchanged for the shortest road from the southern part of the Odessa (Odesa) region of Ukraine to the northern one which passes via Moldova. The port is very close to the Moldovan border with Romania and Ukraine. Earlier, the head of the press service of Moldova’s government Daniel Voda said that the state-owned part of Giurgiulesti port is not for sale. This part of the port has no real commercial value. Giurgiulesti International Free Port is 133.8 km from the Black Sea. The port is capable of handling inland waterway vessels and seagoing vessels. Danube Logistics, a Moldovan LLC, is the port’s owner, investor and operator. In December 2004, the company signed an investment agreement with the Moldovan government to develop the port project. Danube Logistics is a subsidiary of the Dutch Danube Logistics Holding. The sole owner of the holding is the EBRD. The cargo The Giurgiulesti International Free Port handled 2.17 million tonnes of cargo in 2023 – 18.6% more than in 2022. It also processed a record 8,460 TEUs. Moldova’s Giurgiulesti port handled 2.17 mln tonnes of cargo in 2023 The positive cargo dynamics are associated with the growth of grain and seed exports. In 2023, these increased by 55% and reached 889,000 tonnes, or 41% of total cargo turnover. Imports of petroleum products increased by 4% to 599,000 tonnes. Sunflower oil handling increased by 26% to 248,000 tonnes. Imports of construction materials increased by 10% to 195,000 tonnes. The import of fertilisers in big bags also increased by 48% to 119,000 tonnes. Coal imports and scrap metal exports declined. The port Giurgiulesti International Free Port is on the maritime section of the Danube. It has oil products, grain, vegetable oils, bulk cargo, container and general cargo terminals, a Ro-Ro terminal and a passenger terminal. Its water depth is 7 m. According to the General Director of Danube Logistics (GIFP operator) Matthias von Tucher, cargo handled in 2023 also included shipments to and from Ukraine. The growth in grain exports, according to von Tucher, is the result of recent investments in new grain storage facilities at the port and the purchase of high-performance cranes and loading equipment. He also said that the port is completing preparations for the construction of a new universal berth to increase transhipment capacity for dry cargo, general cargo and containers by 600,000 tonnes per year. More Ports Europe news about the Giurgiulesti Port Copyright (C) Ports Europe. All Rights Reserved. 2024.

Giurgiulesti inland port – Who will buy Moldova’s only port?

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Giurgiulesti inland port – Who will buy Moldova’s only port?

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