Projects to increase the throughput capacity of the ports on the River Danube will require up to USD 200 million in investment, and their modernization will increase their throughput capacity to 25 million tons of cargo per year.

Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov announced this in his address at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano (Switzerland), the CFTS portal reports, citing the Ukrinform news agency.

According to Kubrakov, the program for the development of river routes for the transportation of freight will consist of four components. The first component will involve the continuation of the implementation of the "Danube – Black Sea" navigation project and the dredging of the Reni and Izmail ports. The second component will involve the modernization of Ukraine’s existing vessels and the subsequent building of a new navigation fleet.

"Currently, transportation is performed by vessels that are over 20 years old. They need to be modernized. We understand that we need to use vessels of greater capacity. We are working to increase the existing fleet of vessels," Kubrakov said.

The third component of the program for cargo transportation on the River Danube will involve the modernization of the Izmail, Reni, and Ust-Danube ports to increase their throughput capacity.

"The Danube ports are already showing fantastic results, but we plan to increase their capacity to 25 million tons of cargo per year," the minister said.

Finally, according to him, it is necessary to create conditions for unhindered rail links between the ports, including by establishing direct rail links between them.

"We want to increase the capacity of the Izmail-Reni railway, which will make us even more efficient," Kubrakov said.