Ukraine, Moldova simplify railway traffic control at Danube ports

Ukraine and Moldova agreed on Thursday to simplify control at border crossings for rail freight trains, Ukraine’s ministry of communities, territories and infrastructure said in a statement.

The protocol, signed by Ukraine’s and Moldova’s infrastructure ministers, Oleksandr Kubrakov and Lilia Dabija, introduces non-stop travel through Ukraine between the Fricatsei-Etulia and Reni-Giurgiulesti checkpoints.

This "will increase the volume of goods transported by rail, in particular to Romania and vice versa," the statement read.

"The introduction of non-stop travel in both directions will allow us to accelerate and increase the volume of rail traffic," Mr Kubrakov was quoted as saying.

"These are important changes for the further development of the entire Danube port cluster."

He noted that the Danube ports in 2022 handled more than 16 million tonnes of cargo, three times more than the year before.

"This year we plan to further increase the volume of traffic across the Danube River," the minister assured.

Since March, joint control has been introduced at the Basarabeasca checkpoint on the Ukrainian-Moldovan state border.