On March 12, 2025, in Budapest, Hungary, at the headquarters of the Danube Commission (DC), an expert meeting on the protection of inland waterway transport was held. During the event, the Ukrainian delegation, led by Andriy Kashuba, Deputy Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, proposed updated security and navigation measures for the Danube.
The Deputy Minister thanked the Danube Commission, particularly the Director-General of the DC Secretariat, Manfred Seitz, member states, DG EC MOVE, representatives of the European Commission, as well as all partners and friends for their continuous support, assistance, and efforts to strengthen the resilience of the Danube region, enhance its efficiency, and find new logistics routes since the aggressive and unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine. The main issue discussed was the update of recommendations for ensuring the safety of navigation on the Danube. The Ukrainian side proposed changes to the existing document, making it mandatory for all member countries of the Danube Commission.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has attacked Ukrainian ports over 70 times, destroying hundreds of infrastructure objects and causing civilian casualties. During this period, the aggressor damaged and destroyed 382 port infrastructure objects, attacked 31 civilian vessels, and over 97 people were injured or killed. Recently, Russia launched a missile strike on the Odesa seaport, damaging the civilian ship MJ PINAR, flying the flag of Barbados. At the time of the attack, it was loading wheat for export to Algeria. As a result of the strike, four Syrian citizens aged 18 to 24 were killed, and two crew members — citizens of Ukraine and Syria — were injured and are currently under medical supervision.
Despite this, Ukraine continues to ensure the stability of transportation and the operation of the Ukrainian transport corridor, including by utilizing the capabilities of the Danube cluster. In 2024, Ukrainian ports handled over 97 million tons of cargo, with 60 million tons being grain products, as noted by Andriy Kashuba.
The Ukrainian delegation drew the attention of the experts on the protection of inland waterway transport of the Danube Commission to problems with the implementation of current safety and protection standards on the Danube. A survey of ship operators showed that the vast majority of vessels lacked necessary documents, including the Ship Security Plan and the International Ship Security Certificate. Additionally, specially appointed security officers were often absent on board, and crew training was not conducted properly. To address the situation, Ukraine proposed adopting an updated version of the document "Basic Provisions for Ensuring Navigation Safety on the Danube." As a result, the document will include clear requirements for ports and vessels, strengthen control over their compliance, and take into account the experience of Ukrainian ports under wartime conditions. The Ukrainian side called on international partners to support this initiative and strengthen coordination efforts for navigation safety and protection in the Danube region.
The findings and recommendations resulting from the expert meeting on the protection of inland waterway transport will be submitted to the next session of the Danube Commission. During the visit, there was also a bilateral meeting between Andriy Kashuba and Manfred Seitz, the Director-General of the Danube Commission Secretariat. The parties discussed key cooperation issues, the update of the Danube Navigation Regime Convention, the functioning of Danube solidarity routes, the reform of the Danube Commission, and the strengthening of Ukraine's role in its activities. In particular, the Ukrainian side welcomed the complete abandonment of the Russian language in the Commission's work and the transition to English as the working language.
Ukraine continues to work diligently to strengthen its role in the Danube region and, together with international partners, is developing measures to ensure the safety and freedom of navigation on the Danube.
