At the Ukrainian Transport Forum 2025, Deputy Minister of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine Andriy Kashuba presented the losses to port infrastructure and plans for its restoration following the damage caused by Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July 2023.
According to the official, restoring the maritime sector overall requires investments of approximately 1 billion euros. The immediate need is about 436 million euros. The funds are required for:
- Shipbuilding;
- Modernization of the existing fleet;
- Restoration of seaports and port equipment;
- Maritime logistics;
- Enhancing institutional capacity.
Among the ambitious projects currently being implemented in Ukraine, which are attracting investments, are the concession of the Black Sea Container Terminal (49 million USD in capital investments in the first five years) and the concession of the Black Sea Ferry Complex (10.4 million USD in capital investments in the first five years).
Additionally, Andriy Kashuba shared plans for restoring operations after the war at ports such as Mykolaiv, Kherson, Olvia, and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi.
“We are developing roadmaps to restore the operation of these ports. We understand that the usual logistics chains were disrupted after the start of the full-scale war. We hope that in the near future we will be able to redistribute cargo among the open ports where, we hope, during a certain transition period, we will restore and modernize the infrastructure,” said Andriy Kashuba.
In response to a clarifying question about the Mykolaiv port, the deputy minister noted: “Work has begun. We are all waiting for major political events. Practical work is underway.”
Overall, from July 18, 2023 (after Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative) to June 3, 2025, as a result of hostile aggression:
- 405 infrastructure objects were damaged or destroyed;
- 169 vehicles and 38 civilian vessels were affected;
- 107 people were injured or killed.
