Port in Bulgaria undergoes modernisation to cut congestion and CO2 emissions, while moving grain from Ukraine faster

Here’s how you solve the problem of cargo ship congestion and tackle CO2 emissions, while increasing grain trade. Bulgaria’s ports are increasingly important staging points on the supply route of food from Ukraine to the rest of the world. But bottlenecks around the ports lead to extra CO2 emissions and extra costs for shippers, transport operators, businesses – and ultimately consumers.

The lack of infrastructure at Bulgarian ports became urgent when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The port of Constanta in Romania was overloaded by an increase in Ukrainian grain, yet cargo couldn’t be shifted to Varna since it wasn’t equipped to deal with the extra ships and cargo.

“The maritime infrastructure in Bulgaria is outdated and with low processing capacity, especially at Varna,” says Tsvetelina Gancheva, director of relations with financial institutions for Oliva AD, the main subsidiary of Buildcom. “The maximum depth of the ports in Varna limits the flow of large-volume vessels, and the capacity for handling general cargo by the regional ports is severely limited.”

That’s why one of the country’s leading grain trading and processing companies, Buildcom Group, is building a major new port terminal at Varna on the Black Sea coast.

The new terminal will open the way to more and bigger vessels by increasing the depth at the quays to 13.5 metres. It will also have a modern system for grain storage and transport, as well as new handling equipment, new railway and road access, utilities networks, and technical and administrative buildings. Expanding the port will ultimately reduce road transport, shifting freight to less carbon-intensive maritime transport.

The European Investment Bank, which is owned by the 27 EU member states, is loaning €50 million loan to co-finance a new grain terminal at the Black Sea port of Varna. That’s just one of many investments in Bulgaria by the European Union’s financing arm. Last year, we invested €1.11 billion in Bulgaria, which is equal to 1.17% of the country’s gross domestic product.

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