Ukraine’s logistics infrastructure is underdeveloped in light of the expected increase in agricultural production. Oleh Nivievskyi, an adviser on agrarian policy at the World Bank Group, announced this at the conference "Grain Forum & Maritime Days 2016," the APK-Inform publication reports.
"In general, the logistics infrastructure in the country is not sufficiently developed in light of the expected increase in agricultural production. The estimated amounts of required investment are USD 580 million in river logistics, USD 640 million in railway logistics, and USD 1.5 billion in storage systems," Nivievskyi said.
In general, according to him, Ukraine should optimize its logistics costs to increase the competitiveness of its agricultural products. Nivievskyi believes that this requires solution of three key problems.
"Firstly, it is necessary to optimize port charges (the high cost of services, non-transparent calculation, etc.), which do not meet international standards. Secondly, it is necessary to ensure development of river logistics (reduction of fees, dredging, etc.). Thirdly, it is necessary to optimize phytosanitary measures and fumigation," he said.
The expert added that the fumigation market in Ukraine remains unregulated, which raises doubts about the quality of works to decontaminate agricultural crops.
