Black Sea ports of Poti The Black Sea ports of Poti and Batumi (Georgia) are planning in the near future to increase ferry cargo transportation to Ukraine and Bulgaria by 50%, Poti Sea Port Commercial Director Eduard Machavariani has told Interfax.

Commenting on the results of a meeting of the directors' councils of the Poti-Batumi-Illichivsk-Varna ferry service, he said that a number of organizational and technical issues linked with the restoration of the ferry services between Georgia, Ukraine and Bulgaria was discussed at the meeting.

"The participants in the meeting, representing the ports, railways and cargo carrier companies of the three countries, decided to increase the number of ferries to increase cargo turnover," he said.

He said that, in particular, currently four or five ferry trips are performed from Poti to Illichivsk and Varna, and it is planned to increase the figure to six or seven.

"This will significantly increase cargo turnover not only in the ports, in particular, in Poti port, the share of which in ferry transportation is currently 15-20%, but also on the railways of the three countries," Machavariani said.