Greece Proposes Establishing a Railway Connection Between Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine

The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport of Greece, Christos Staikouras, has put forth an initiative to establish a railway connection between Greece, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Romania with the aim of connecting to Ukraine.

Noi.md reported this.

This proposal was made during a summit held in Varna, Bulgaria, where Greece suggested creating a route to diversify trade connections between Mediterranean ports and Ukraine.

The Greek government suggests routing trains from Bulgarian ports in Ruse and Romanian ports in Constanta to Greek ports in Alexandroupolis and Thessaloniki, with future plans to expand this connection to include Moldova and Ukraine.

Minister Staikouras has sent a letter outlining these intentions to the European Commissioner for Transport, Adina Valean, as well as to Bulgaria's Minister of Finance, Asen Vassilev, Bulgaria's Minister of Transport and Communications, Georgi Gvozdeykov, and Romania's Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Sorin Grindeanu.

According to Staikouras, this project represents a significant opportunity to overcome past obstacles and delays, offering alternative trade relations between nations while simultaneously strengthening transportation links and international cargo shipments.

As reported by The Gaze, Greece is ready to provide an alternative route for Ukrainian wheat and other grains through its northern ports, Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis, as announced by Greece's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giorgos Gerapetritis, during an informal meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Kyiv.

Furthermore, the Minister of Agriculture of Romania, Flórin Bârba, announced that the ministry has released a draft emergency ordinance that establishes a legislative framework for importing agricultural products from Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. This ordinance introduces a mechanism for granting permission to Romanian economic operators for importing four products: wheat, corn, sunflower, and rapeseed. 

A business entity intending to import agricultural products from Ukraine or the Republic of Moldova must apply to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Romania for an import permit based on the presentation of documentation demonstrating the need to stock reserves.