Italy Pledges Support for Ukraine’s Port Reconstruction Efforts

As Ukraine intensifies recovery efforts, Italy has pledged support in the reconstruction of its ports, which have been repeatedly targeted in Russian missile and drone strikes. Last week, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) signed two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with Italian port authorities, the Eastern Adriatic Sea Port Authority and the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority. The agreements were signed on the sidelines of the International Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine, held in Rome.

With the Eastern Adriatic Port Authority managing the ports of Trieste and Monfalcone, Ukraine hopes to benefit from the Authority’s expertise in the implementation of digital port solutions. The Port of Trieste is one of the largest cargo ports in Italy and a critical terminal in the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). Italy, through national railways company Ferrovie dello Stato (FS Group), is already leading plans to establish a logistics corridor from Western Ukraine (Lviv) to Trieste and Venice ports.

On Friday, to accelerate development of the corridor, FS Group signed a cooperation agreement with Ukrainian Railways (UZ). FS Group said that a working group will be formed with representatives from both railway companies, which will meet at least four times a year. Italian shipbuilding firm Fincantieri is also said to be considering setting up a shipyard in Odessa. These plans were initially revealed in September last year, with Fincantieri targeting to revive Ukraine’s defunct state-owned shipyards in the port of Odessa.

“These memorandums open up new opportunities for digitization and implementation of modern logistics solutions as well as adapt ports to new challenges. This is another step towards integration into the European logistics space – through concrete cooperation, training, and investments,” said Oleksandr Semirga, the head of USPA.

Notably, the Rome conference helped Ukraine secure over $11 billion in deals spanning defense and infrastructure. Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal estimated the country’s rebuild at $1 trillion. The deputy minister of territorial development, Andriy Kashuba, estimated that Ukraine needs $566 million to rebuild critical port infrastructure in the Black Sea region.