The Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (JSC Ukrzaliznytsia) has acquired a grain terminal in Odesa, which will become part of the company’s supply chain under its pilot project for export of grain.
Ukrzaliznytsia’s Business Development Director Andrii Riazantsev announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports.
“We visited JSC Ukrzaliznytsia’s grain terminal during a visit to Odesa for a meeting on grain transportation issues, work with the top management of the Odessa Railway, and preparation for a pilot project for export of grain. This is the company's first grain terminal,” Riazantsev wrote on Facebook.
According to Riazantsev, the company built the terminal. It is designed for one-time storage of 15,000 tons of grain. “Unloading and loading can be performed in railcars or motor vehicles, and container stuffing can be performed. The complex is equipped with a modern laboratory for determining the quality of products,” he wrote.
Photographs and videos uploaded by Riazantsev show that the terminal is equipped with a stationary tipper for vehicles and 12 silos for storage of grain.
In comments under Riazantsev’s post, the Ukrainian Grain Association’s President Mykola Horabchov noted that the grain terminal was built on the territory of Ukrzaliznytsia’s Odesa-Liski container terminal. The Center for Logistics Development’s Board Chairman Valerii Tkachev wrote that information available to him indicated that this grain complex has been in operation for more than a year.
As reported earlier, it was first announced in early June this year that Ukrzaliznytsia wanted to begin purchasing grain from farmers and exporting it as a legal entity. Ukrzaliznytsia later said that this was only an idea that was expressed during a dialogue with businesses. However, Ukrzaliznytsia announced in mid-July that farmers had contacted the company and proposed that it become a trader and forwarder of their grain cargoes. Riazantsev later said in an interview with the CFTS portal that Ukrzaliznytsia was planning to implement a pilot project for export of grain in 2019 and that it was expecting full-scale implementation of the project from 2020. “We are currently gathering information and considering the effectiveness of this process,” he said. “We are also at the stage of preparation of documents for consideration by the board and supervisory board. Honestly speaking, I would consider this project as early as next season if there is support on an industrial scale because it requires a certain kind of organizational and operational effort."
