The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority and Port of Antwerp International / APEC signed a memorandum of understanding, USPA says in a press release. The document provides for the expansion of cooperation between the USPA and one of the largest ports in Europe, a detailed analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of Ukrainian seaports and further interaction in order to attract investment in their development. The signing took place with the participation of Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Volodymyr Omelyan and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belgium to Ukraine Alex Lenaerts.
“Experts from Port Antwerp International will conduct a SWOT-analysis of the situation in Ukrainian seaports and will formulate a plan of partnership assistance in implementation of the development strategy of Ukrainian seaports. Trainings for specialists of the USPA start this week in the areas of pricing for port services, work within the framework of port landlord model, concession project implementation, as well as the peculiarities of the interaction of environmental services in the port.” — noted the Head of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, Raivis Veckagans.
He also added that the signing of this memorandum is a logical step to continue the cooperation of the USPA with one of the largest ports in Europe, which has been continuing since the early 2000s. During this time dozens of specialists in the maritime industry of Ukraine have already been trained at the APEC Training Center.
From Belgian port side, the memorandum was signed by Kristof Waterschoot, managing director of Port of Antwerp International and the APEC Port Training Center. He stressed that the Black Sea region and, in particular, the seaports of Ukraine are now at the center of attention of international experts.
Port of Antwerp International is acting internationally, not only as a consultant, but also as an investor. In particular, the company invested 10 milliondollars in Porto do Aç (Brazil) in 2017 and more than 2 million dollars in the port of San Pedro (West Africa) in 2016. Further cooperation with Ukrainian ports will also consider the possibility of Belgian and international experts participation in attracting investments and implementing projects on development of port infrastructure in the seaports of Ukraine.
Port of Antwerp International is located on the Schelde River. The total area of its territory — more than 13 thousand hectares, the length of the berthing front – 166 km, railways – 1061 km, roads – 409 km, storage areas – 610 hectares. The cargo turnover of the port in 2017 amounted to more than 220 million tons, more than 50% of them – container cargo, and another third is liquid cargo. The total income of the port consists of transfer to lease / concession (46%), port dues (33%), tonnage dues (14%), leasing of equipment (3%). Depths in the port are up 13.5 — 18.5 m.