Container cargo is the first to be reoriented to alternative routes

Ukrainian business has already begun to reorient part of its cargo to routes through Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania amid Russian shelling of the ports of Great Odesa.

This was told to USM by GOL CEO Pavlo Linnyk.

According to him, the most mobile cargoes remain containerized cargoes, mechanical engineering products, finished goods, some chemical products, timber and cargoes with high added value. For them, the use of intermodal routes through neighboring countries is technically possible.

On the other hand, grain, oilseeds, ore, metal products and other large-tonnage consignments are much more dependent on the operation of Ukrainian deep-water ports. Their redirection to land routes significantly increases logistics costs and the burden on European infrastructure.

According to Linnyk, some companies are postponing new shipments or immediately reorienting them to Poland, Romania and other destinations. Others are taking a wait-and-see approach and counting on the stabilization of the situation with shipping protection.

GOL notes that the business is simultaneously diversifying routes and waiting for the safe operation of the maritime corridor to resume.

Read also: Return in 2022: what will happen to Ukraine’s exports if shipping in Great Odesa remains suspended