Private companies that handle freight at state seaports will gain a chance to participate in the development of a global strategy for the development of the port complex of Ukraine, the press service of Odesa maritime merchandise port has reported.
The press service said that private business will be able to influence decision making, which will stimulate the attraction of freight flows and investment in the construction of new terminals, via the creation of public advisory structures – councils of ports.
The director of the department of state policy in sea and river transport area at the Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine, Volodymyr Sevriukov, said that the law on seaports passed by the Ukrainian parliament on May 17, 2012, has passed through almost all stage of agreement and will soon be submitted to the president for signing.
"There is a political decision – to increase the competitiveness of the sector, give a chance to develop ports, attract investment, build new terminals – and the law provides the legal basis for the reform," the port’s press service said, citing Sevriukov.
He said that it is proposed to create public advisory structures, the main task of which will be to participate in local port facilitydevelopment strategies, which, in turn, will be the basis for a global strategy for the development of port infrastructure of Ukraine. The structures will be created in ports where private business operates.
Sevriukov said that in the near term, the ministry would create a working group for the development of the said strategy. The group will include representatives of the ministry, port heads, experts and business representatives.
The press service of Izmail maritime merchandise port said that the company’s employees support an idea of creating a coordination council to work on the development of the Danube maritime transport complex.
The press service said that the government’s plans to unite Danube ports and Ukrainian Danube Navigation to retain and create jobs, reduce non-production expenses and increase the production effectiveness were announced last week by Vice Premier and Infrastructure Minister Borys Kolesnikov.
"We plan to merge Reni and Izmail ports into a single node and, jointly with Ukrainian Danube Navigation, establish a managing company to minimize costs and increase cargo turnover at each of the ports," he said.
