FOCUS: PORTS OF UKRAINE. POST RELEASE
On February 25, the Shipping Magazine organized an online discussion focusing on the ports of Ukraine. This event is as part of a series of online events «Honest Thursday» aimed at the formation of a common vision of the situation in various areas of transport, prioritizing directions for development, the formation of a baseline scenario for implementation of the Strategy.
The first event is dedicated to the discussion of the approved Strategy for the Development of Ukrainian ports until 2038, which was an important step in the preparation of a roadmap for concession projects in the port industry for 2021-2022. The main moderator of the meeting was Vladimir Shulmeister, the founder and the head of the PO «Іnfrastructure Council».
«Honest Thursday» was held on a modern platform «Eventwallet», all participants had the opportunity to post information about themselves and communicate during the networking session.
The event was inaugurated by representatives of state bodies of Ukraine and co-organizer International Trade Club. Volodymyr Kreidenko, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Transport and Infrastructure, started his presentation with the results of cargo turnover in ports in 2020. He spoke about a number of environmental issues, information systems, and integration with the European system. He also raised the issue of the implementation of the sea window system, the program of attracting cargo with the potential for improvement, the transparency of the seaports of Ukraine. Volodymyr Shulmeister stressed that the main task of the state is to synchronize and develop a joint strategy.
Оleg Voronoy, Head of the Strategic Planning and International Relations Department of USPA, in his presentation, raised the potential indicators of cargo handling in the maritime industry, the problems of optimizing the port management system, and the main measures in long-term planning. An important step is a balanced development and efficient use of port capacity on an innovative basis. After all, a comprehensive plan for the development of seaports has been developed taking into account the prospects for the development of highways.
The presentation of Oleg Voronoy outlined the main steps of the service improvement plan in the seaports of Ukraine, sales indicators, the total volume of cargo handling of stevedoring companies.
At the end of his speech, the speaker once again stressed the importance of the Strategy – 2038 for SE «USPA».
Yevhen Cherevykov, Head of the Public-Private Partnership Project Management Department of USPA, and separately in Olbia and Kherson, answered questions about the current state of preparation of the pre-feasibility study and the mechanism of interaction defined with IFC, and the issue of settling with the Chornomorsk port trade unions as part of the implementation of 2 concession projects.
The next part of «Honest Thursday» was held as a panel discussion with moderator Oleg Nivyevsky, a professor at the Kyiv School of Economics. Daria Sichkar, Manager of the Logistics Committee of the European Business Association, actively discussed the provisions on decentralization and the established Transport Strategy, competitive policy. The EBA is also in favor of further reducing port fees, and reducing dividends on the part of USPA from 90% to 30%, which will contribute to the development of port infrastructure.
Alberto Batini, Partner of BTG Legal, highlighted 4 areas spoke on 4 legislative projects that should guide the Ministry of infrastructure.
Oleksandr Kava, Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine, focused his speech on the available resources, how not to waste them, and the level of development of the railway sector, in which the Ministry of Finance invests funds. «There are plans to increase the environmental friendliness of the railway by 25% by 2030: to replace imported diesel fuel with domestic electricity». Another important step was the creation of a road fund. O. Kava stressed that the experience of other countries, especially Poland, is a priority for us. That is why active talks are underway with a grant from the EU for the construction of roads. As a result, the question arose of a special fund on inland water transport.
Mykhailo Ryzak, Deputy General Director for Cooperation with the Authorities of JV NIBULON LLC, stressed the need to establish departments of an antimonopoly committee in the ports and adopt a transparent, non-discriminatory method of port fees.
Also in the discussion took part:
• Eugene Kudrytsky, Partner of Capital Times company.
• With the presentation of the expert Victor Dovgan, «Support of the Ukrainian authorities in the development of the national transport model and master plan», with the topic «Berdyansk port: perspectives of investment».
• Oleksandr Sagaydak, representative of the Polish Register in Ukraine.
• Andre Grunwald, Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa to Ukraine.
A pleasant part at the end of the «Honest Thursday» event was the Pitch session, where reports, presentations of companies’ projects, new products, and services for the ports of Ukraine were presented.
Innovative port infrastructure management tools were demonstrated by Oleksandr Tasev, Regional Manager Eastern Europe & CIS, Hexagon Geospatial / Softprom. He addressed the challenges of digitalization and big data.
Natalia Shubina, Development Director for the Southern Region (InWhite Solutions service company), presented integration facilities for port infrastructure in the following services: cleaning, landscaping engineering, dry cleaning, antivirus processing.
The following presentations were shared by representatives of strategically important ports for Ukraine: Alibek Utegenov – Port Kuryk (Executive Director for Marketing and Logistics of Port Kuryk LLC); Michal Stupak, Senior Account Manager, Gdansk Port; Slavkuv Euroterminal, which is the gateway to Europe and potential partners; Zaur Hasanov – Head of the Department of International Cooperation and Public Relations (Baku International Sea Trade Port).
Tatiana Drozd, the marketer AT «KTZ Express», presented the issue of creating a single digital corridor TMTM, the use of blockchain technologies for document flow covering the whole vessel route, and the scheme of integration of the participants of the pilot route.
At the end of the meeting, the Shipping Magazine as the organizer invited participants on the platform of the event to take advantage of B2B meetings online. The next event «Honest Thursday» will be dedicated to the most pressing problems of seafarers in matters of diplomacy; international standards of training; coronavirus control program and the problem related to the lack of jobs. The event will be held on March 29 – «FOCUS: problems of sailors during the pandemic. Recommendations for Ukraine». The event will be of interest to state authorities, embassies, consulates, representatives of diplomatic missions, shipping and shipbuilding companies, crewing companies, ship equipment manufacturers, lawyers and investors
