Croatia will not become a grain hub for Ukraine
Croatia will not be able to become the main hub for the export of Ukrainian grain, since this country does not have the necessary infrastructure.
Kommersant writes about this, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent, analyzing the situation and citing Croatian experts.
“Negotiations in the Romanian port of Galati with the participation of representatives of the US, EU, Romania, Ukraine and Moldova with the aim of establishing alternative routes for the export of Ukrainian grain updated the recent agreement between Ukraine and Croatia that it would become a key point for such exports. This agreement was announced in early August, after a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries, Gordan Grlic-Radman and Dmitry Kuleba, in Kyiv.
It was understood that Ukrainian grain would be delivered along the Danube to Croatia, and from its ports along the Adriatic would be transported throughout the world. Meanwhile, data and research results that have appeared in the Balkan media in recent days cast doubt on the feasibility of implementing such an agreement.
The only Croatian port on the Danube, Vukovar, has limited capacity; it can handle only 1,2 million tons of cargo per year. The European Union estimates Ukraine's needs at 30 million tons of grain exports. In addition, in Vukovar today there is only one grain storage facility with a modest capacity of 10 thousand tons,” the material says.
Problems with the delivery of grain from Vukovar to Croatian ports on the Adriatic are inevitable.
“Experts have calculated that transporting only 1 million tons by truck would require more than 20 thousand vehicles, which makes such transportation unrealistic. The railway remains. But the Croatian Railway Transport Authority openly admits that it is not able to transport a significant amount of cargo today. And experts explain that the reconstruction of the railways that has begun in Croatia will take years and will require huge funds,” Croatian analysts say.
Of all the Croatian ports on the Adriatic, the export of Ukrainian grain could only go through Rijeka, whose capacity is limited, and transportation through Split, Zadar or Sibenik, according to experts, is unprofitable today due to the unsatisfactory condition of the access roads.
Croatian experts agree that the export of Ukrainian grain in the required volumes through their country is unrealistic today and Croatia is unlikely to become a “key grain export point for Ukraine.”
“Croatia wanted to express solidarity with Ukraine, to show that it is on its side and supports it. This is rather a symbolic gesture of support,” Ljubo Jurcic, former Minister of Economy of Croatia and professor at the University of Zagreb, assesses the Croatian-Ukrainian deal.
Croatia will not become a grain hub for Ukraine.