Agency hosted regional workshop in the scope of DIONYSUS project

Port Governance Agency on December 16, hosted an online regional workshop, "Ports and Agricultural Products in the Middle Danube Region Countries [HU / HR / RS]". The workshop was organized within the project of the Danube Transnational Programme "Integrating the Danube Region into Smart & Sustainable Multi-modal & Intermodal Transport Chains - DIONYSUS", in which Agency participates as an IPA partner.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Danube Transnational Programme, the Danube Commission, the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, viadonau, port operators and institutions - project partners.

The director of the Agency, Vuk Perović, pointed out that the Danube is the most important European river, since it represents one of the pan-European corridors. He stated that 11 ports in Serbia are open for international traffic, eight on the Danube, two on the Sava and one on the Tisza. He added that the four ports have a transhipment volume of more than a million tons a year. When it comes to cargo handling, Perović said that the Agency recorded 16 million tons of transhipped goods on rivers in Serbia last year, which is by five percent more than in 2019. At the end of this year's third quarter, 12 million tons of transhipped cargo were recorded, which is an increase of 13 percent compared to the same period last year. "For Agency, participation in the DIONYSUS project means better connection of our ports with other ports from the Danube basin and we are pleased to be part of the project team," Perovic said, announcing that the Agency will host a meeting of project partners in the spring of 2022 in Belgrade.

Silviu Meterna, General Manager of Pro Danube Romania, the lead project partner, explained that thematic workshops are of great importance for the successful implementation of project activities. According to him, the goal of the regional meetings is to assess the contribution of ports in terms of increasing the production and transportation of agricultural products. In addition, the meetings provide an opportunity to analyze and map the need for improvement of port infrastructure and superstructure, as well as roads and railways. Based on the conclusions from these events, strategies and recommendations for optimizing the transport of agricultural products by IWT will be developed, Meterna underlined.

Horst Schindler from the Danube Transnational Program presented the priorities that future Interreg Danube projects will address, such as the "smart" and "green" Danube, as well as better administrative cooperation in the Danube region. He announced that a call for project proposals would be published in 2022.

Participants from Serbia, Croatia and Hungary presented the role of IWT in the transport of agricultural products, ports and their capacities, existing and planned transport infrastructure, support instruments and future trends in this area.

The exchange of experience and knowledge of project partners and relevant institutions will contribute to the balanced development of the port sector in the Danube region. In that way, a common goal will be realized - integration of Danube ports into multimodal and intermodal transport systems, it was concluded on the workshop.