China National Technical Import & Export Corporation (CNTIC) will help the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company to modernize its fleet of vessels. The two companies have signed the relevant memorandum of cooperation. The Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company’s head Dmytro Barynov announced this during the presentation of a strategy for development of the company’s fleet, the CFTS correspondent reports.
"The main threat to us is obsolescence of our fleet. Therefore, we have developed a strategy for its development," Barynov said. The strategy provides for construction of 40 new barges of the SLG type and modernization of 21 tugs.
The shipping company plans to finance the implementation of this strategy with foreign loans. "We have negotiated with our partners: the Austrian company Panta Rei and the China National Technical Import & Export Corporation (CNTIC). We have signed a memorandum of cooperation with the latter, and our delegation will travel to China in July," he said.
The total cost of the project is estimated at USD 50 million. The renewal of the fleet should be completed by 2031.
The Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company’s fleet currently consists of 466 ships (tugboats and barges), most of which are obsolete.
The state-owned China National Technical Import & Export Corporation was founded in 1952. It specializes in investments in technology, sale of technical solutions, etc.
As the CFTS reported, the multiyear process of transfer of barges of the "Europe-IIB" type to the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company was completed in Vienna (Austria) on 13 December 2016.
