With the strategies implemented together with the international financial institutions, Ukraine continues its integration into the global and EU economy and last year, the state managed to finalize negotiations on the set up of a free trade area. According to the World Bank Strategy 2012-2016, the authorities want to focus on improving the quality of public services, the financial sustainability and efficiency and the development of the business environment and the promotion of domestic and foreign investments.
An efficient and complete global integration is directly influenced by freight transport which is an important factor in the development of the country and of the region. Ports play an important role here for all transport modes and for continental and transcontinental commercial activities. Therefore, Illichivsk Port plays a strategic position in the transport system which links Europe to Asia and has commercial activities with more than100 countries. As one of the largest ports of Ukraine, the port is a key factor for the regions with developed industry from Russia and Kazakhstan, Georgia and the Baltic States. Well-developed connections with other transport modes, especially railway and road, permit the efficient delivery of freight. “Illichivsk Port is the main international transport hub for the RO-RO handling of goods, the handling surface of the port being the largest in the Black Sea Region”, said the representatives of Illichivsk Port.
In this context, within TRACECA Investment Forum (2012), the authorities declared that investments in the projects on port infrastructure development are absolutely necessary for the development of its activities and for increasing its capacity. “The commercial port of Illichivsk is open to the proposals of foreign and national investors. We are running many projects now to the benefit of economy, but their implementation requires better infrastructures”, declared the port manager, Alexander Grygorashenko, while presenting this year’s development programmes.
Thus, Illichivsk Port will develop a multimodal complex included in the international transport corridors, TRACECA, Baltic Sea-Black Sea (through the “Viking” project linking Klaipeda and Illichivsk port) and Corridor 9 which connects the Baltic, Black, Azov and Caspian seas. The complex will deal with the handling of ferry-boats, freight wagons, containers and long-distance trucks, the capacity of the terminal standing at 4.6 million tonnes/year. The implementation of the project has a cross-border importance for the Ukrainian port which is seen as an international transport hub.
The development of the port infrastructure includes the construction of an area of 16,240 square metres for container handling, the rehabilitation of the railway lines for Illichivsk-Paromnaya stations and the acquisition of the equipments necessary for the ferry centre. The development programme including the construction of berths, warehouses and adjacent facilities requires investments of up to EUR 14.8 Million and will be completed in 2 and a half years. The implementation of all development projects in Illichivsk Port will help increase capacity from 32 million tonnes to 55 million tonnes/year.
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