The second meeting of the logistics platform within the framework of the Ways of Solidarity initiative has just ended. The meeting was chaired by the Deputy Director-General of the European Commission, Maya Bakran. Representatives of relevant EC departments (EC MOVE, AGRI, SANTE, TAXUD), EU member states (Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary), Moldova, as well as European business (representatives of railway companies and ports, agribusiness) joined the event. Ukraine was represented by the Coordination Council for Logistics in Agriculture representatives, JSC "Ukrzaliznytsia", SE "AMPU", ports and agribusiness.
During the event, the issue of bottlenecks at checkpoints, long-term transshipment of agricultural products at checkpoints, ensuring proper coordination in the operational solution of problems at the border, the critical need to increase warehouses for storage of Ukrainian agricultural products, the need to simplify customs, veterinary and phytosanitary control borders with the EU Member States.
"The European Union should consider creating state programs to support grain producers. Such incentives for domestic producers can significantly improve the situation with agro-exports, and the amount of funding for such assistance is much lower than the economic consequences that limited Ukrainian exports may lead to. At least we are talking about increasing food prices and social discontent of the EU population," said Denis Bashlyk, Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.
He added that today almost half of the grain exported from Ukraine goes by the Danube to Constanta. The first problem here is the lack of infrastructure and administrative capacity. Ports have limited capacity due to a lack of barges, berths, and terminals. This is a significant challenge, which still requires coordination and optimization of existing logistics chains, and establishing new routes that would ensure, as far as possible, minimize delays. Equally important is the issue of new harvest and temporary storage of Ukrainian exports.
