ODESSA, JANUARY 19th, 2015, CONTEXT-PRICHERNOMORIE — Politician, MP of III, VI, VII convocations Sergiy Grynevetsky believes that if not to deal with the problems of the fleet, a new attractive tariff and transit policy, Ukraine will remain a provincial country, and the access to the sea can be easily taken away, Context-Prichernomorie correspondent reports.

Sergiy Grynevetsky noted today, January 19, during the interview.

“In October 2013 the European Commission presented a new approach to the development of transport infrastructure in the EU. The main goal is the creation of trans-European transport network (TEN-T). The basis will be nine transport corridors, two in North-South direction, three in the East-West direction, and four diagonal transport corridors. Nine priority transport corridors will receive funding for the period from 2014 to 2020 in the amount of 26 billion Euros, which will be implemented through “Connecting Europe Facility”. But where is Ukraine? It is easy. All transport corridors ends at the border with Ukraine. For example, the Rhine-Danube corridor ends in Romanian Tulcea, but not in Ukrainian Izmail. And who is to blame for this? The European Union, which thinks strategically, for decades to come, or business and political elite of Ukraine, who thinks the principles of short-term profit?” he noted.

“Ukraine’s problem is having all the opportunities for integration into the European transport system, we do not use these them. On the contrary, too high fees in the same ports, plenty of inspecting and supervising services and, as a consequence, high level of corruption makes Ukrainian maritime complex uncompetitive,” he added.

“It is not a secret that the majority of transit through the Ukrainian ports, up loads from the Customs Union, primarily Russia. Even before the events in the Crimea and the Donbass, Russia pursued a policy that pointed at Russian cargo to go through the Russian rather than Ukrainian ports. It is obvious that in the present circumstances Russian transit will only reduce, not increase. Consequently, it is becoming a problem of attracting new cargo flows, which can be a substitute for the Russian.

If not to deal with the problems of the fleet, a new attractive tariff and transit policy, Ukraine will remain a provincial country, and the access to the sea can be easily taken away,” the politician added.