Romania denies Ukrainian grain is given rail priority to Constanta

Ukrainian grain is not given priority in rail shipments to Romania’s Port of Constanta and is effectively transported on a residual basis. A representative of Romanian company Unicom Tranzit said this during an August 19 meeting between Ukrzaliznytsia and rail operators from Romania and Moldova.

Context. Romanian farmers and traders previously claimed that Ukrainian grain had been given priority for rail shipments to the Port of Constanta, putting them at risk of failing to meet their export contracts.

According to the company representative, some terminals at the Port of Constanta are congested, forcing trains carrying Ukrainian grain to wait several days or even up to a week before being accepted.

Unicom Tranzit also said it has a limited fleet of standard-gauge grain wagons, as most of them are currently being used on domestic routes in Romania.

“At the moment, what we are sending consists only of wagons that require bogie exchange. There are only two standard-gauge trainsets available for Vadul-Siret. Unfortunately, the Port of Constanta is congested not only with grain but also with other cargoes, and trains are being held up en route. Even after we receive port acceptance from all clients, the port may only give the green light to receive a train in two, three or even five days. We dispatch the trains, but the port still does not accept them,” Unicom Tranzit said.

Due to these delays, the full wagon turnaround on the Vadul-Siret–Constanta–Vadul-Siret route can take up to 10 days.

The company also said that some terminals in Constanta handle trains carrying Romanian cargoes first and Ukrainian shipments afterward. This is reportedly the case at the ADM and Chimpex terminals, where several trains carrying Ukrainian grain are currently waiting to be unloaded.

Tags: Romania, Constanta, rail transportation