The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority and the Busan port authority (South Korea) have agreed to jointly explore ways of improving the efficiency of utilization of import, transit, and transshipment capacity at Ukrainian seaport terminals. In addition, the two port authorities will try to jointly explore investment opportunities for South Korean businesses in Ukrainian ports.
According to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, agreements to this effect were reached during a meeting between the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority’s acting head Raivis Veckagans and the Busan Port Authority’s head Woo Ye-jong in South Korea on September 27.
The port of Busan is the largest seaport in South Korea. The port handled almost 20 million TEU in 2016.
The delegation led by Veckagans also visited the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI), which will be involved in the capacity utilization project. The institute has expertise in development of master plans for development of seaports, which is extremely important for Ukraine in the context of “harmonizing the development of the cargo front in ports with access roads,” the Ukrainian Seaports Authority said.
According to Veckagans, the port of Busan is one of the world’s leading seaports in terms of transshipment volumes and a good example of implementation of the “landlord port” model in terms of management of land within seaports and their operation as concessions by port operators.
"We plan to move in this direction," Veckagans said.
The visit took place at the invitation of the World Bank and within the framework of the Green Growth Trust Fund programs, which was established by the government of South Korea and the World Bank. The delegation also includes representatives of the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure’s office of technical support for reforms and the Ukrainian Railways public joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia).
