Mykhailo Rizak: The Launch of the Mykolaiv Port Should Become an Integral Part of the 'Maritime Truce'
Mykhailo Rizak, Director of Government Relations at NIBULON, on why the launch of the Mykolaiv port hub and the deployment of engineering teams at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station should become an integral part of the ‘maritime truce’ that has been discussed around the world for several days.
Sanctions have weakened russia's position
The opening of Ukraine's deepwater ports in the Odesa region has significantly strengthened Ukraine's position as a reliable partner in ensuring global food security.
With this step, Ukraine continues to fulfil its role as a breadbasket for Europe and the world, ensuring stability in global food markets.
At the same time, sanctions on fertilisers, the fleet and the SWIFT system have weakened the position of the russian federation, creating the preconditions for rethinking its strategic approaches.
Today, we hear statements about ceasefire agreements on water transport aimed at testing the sincerity of Russia's intentions to cease fire. But we are convinced that such agreements should be focused on maintaining Ukraine's status as a reliable partner for food security in the world.
To achieve this goal, a systematic linkage of reciprocal confidence-building measures is needed.
We call on the United States as the guarantor of the agreements, Denmark, France, Britain, Germany, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Development (Infrastructure), the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, Cofco, Bunge, the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine and others to achieve a real roadmap for the following measures:
1. Ensure the evacuation of 100 vessels, including more than 30 seagoing vessels and 70 river-sea vessels from the Mykolaiv port hub. This will allow for the safe resumption of logistics operations and remove threats to civilian shipping.
2. Full launch of the Mykolaiv port hub with an external roadstead near Ochakiv, which was a leader in grain exports and accounted for 30% of grain exports. This will help increase throughput and restore logistics chains in the region from the day of the political decision.
3. Formation and launch of engineering teams at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station with a gateway, which ensured 15 million tonnes of cargo turnover on the Dnipro River and is an extremely important step from a security point of view. In the context of the natural barrier along the front line — water — this will ensure the stability of water supply and cooling of the reactors of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
A real roadmap for peace is needed
I would like to emphasise that the restoration of the dam and the lock at the Kakhovka HPP is not only a matter of nuclear energy security, but also of humanitarian and food stability. This will ensure water supply to settlements, restore groundwater levels for agriculture and restore the E-40 international waterway for logistics.
In addition, it will become a tool for the practical implementation of reconstruction financing, which will not only restore infrastructure but also create a stable economic and humanitarian basis for southern Ukraine.
Speaking about the economy, the opening of the Mykolaiv port hub will reduce logistics costs by up to $4 per tonne, and the revival of shipping along the E-40 international waterway (Dnipro River) can bring additional savings of up to $3 per tonne to agricultural producers. We work with about 3,000 small and medium-sized farms.
We call on the international community to support these initiatives and work together on a real roadmap for peace on international waterways, including the E-40 with the full launch of the Mykolaiv port hub.