Edwin Lock, Team Leader EU Assistance for Dnipro Transport Development

The material - prepared in the framework of the EU Project "Assistance for Dnipro Transport Development" – is part of a series of discussions with transport and infrastructure stakeholders on the future of the inland waterway transport sector in Ukraine, in the current context. The discussions are being facilitated by Ramona Lupu, EU Communication Expert.

Ramona Lupu: A myriad of destroyed lives, thousands of destroyed houses, several hundreds of schools turned to rubble, countless bridges, roads, power stations, railway infrastructure and industry bombed. For Ukrainians these are not just statistics. This is their everyday life. With the war waged by Russia against Ukraine, having a devastating effect on the country’s rail and road infrastructure, an active usage of inland shipping could be complementary in carrying commodities such as grain and iron. The EU assistance for the Dnipro Transport Development Project and the Ministry of Infrastructure, which have been working closely together since 2019, aimed at supporting Ukraine’s inland waterway transport reform efforts and strengthen its inland navigation sector. To help assess the current context and future EU support policies for the sector, we have the Team Leader of the Project Edwin Lock.  I’m glad to see you again, Edwin. As the assistance, the Dnipro Transport Development Project entered a new phase this year, can you detail the planning ahead in terms of the project’s support to the sector in market development, digitalization of the sector, and smart shipping planning, and, of course, building an administrative capacity of the Ministry of Infrastructure and relevant inland waterway authorities.

Edwin Lock: Thank you, Ramona. It’s very good that we can continue for another one year with our small inland waterway transport project in Ukraine. For the second phase, as we can call it, we are going to focus on assisting the Ministry and governmental agencies in the implementation of the Directives of the European Union that govern the inland waterway transport sector. To support that process we provide some practical training under our capacity building program for the Ministry and agencies, like Maritime Administration, the Shipping Register of Ukraine. And certainly we will try to make the inland waterway transport sector ready for the future after the Russians have left Ukraine, by preparing the plan for digitalization of inland waterway transport and introduction of smart shipping, so we’re going to prepare the road map for that. And, of course, the rivers will be navigable again for import and export, and we’ll assist with the promotion of inland waterway transport and look at the market developments, so we can build the market observation system.  That’s what we are going to do the coming year. Regarding the fleet, the most important common challenge for this mode of transport is the integration of modern technologies in the concept of vessels, with the view to ensure the optimal performances in terms of energy consumption, safety, and environmental impact. The newly defined standards set optimal conditions for sustainable development of the fleets. For Ukraine, the need to modernize its fleet and to reinvest in capacity, and the alignment to EU standards will constitute economic prerequisite for a viable investment. Once the Ukrainian certificates are recognized at the European Union level, the Ukrainian certified fleet will meet the most important conditions for a European Union wide operation fleet vessel.

Ramona Lupu: in the current unfortunate context it goes without saying that the restructuring and modernization of Ukraine’s inland waterway transport sector is a must. So is the country’s gradual alignment of operating standards and policies comparable to those in the EU. Why is the implementation in the Ukrainian legislation of the EU Directives relevant for both shipping companies and inland waterway transport personnel? And what is the EU support in the implementation of such Directives?

For more details about EU support for the inland navigation sector, you can watch the continuation of the interview here!

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