The Agency hosted meetings of DIONYSUS project partners

The Port Governance Agency hosted two-days meetings of partners within the international project DIONYSUS. The meetings were held on June 1st and 2nd in a hybrid format - in Belgrade and online, and brought together representatives of partner institutions.

The meeting was also attended by Horst Schindler from the Danube Transnational Program and Manfred Seitz, Director General of the Secretariat of the Danube Commission.

Representatives of the project team of the Agency stated that for ports in Serbia, DIONYSUS means better connection with other ports in the Danube basin. They emphasized that DIONYSUS represents a significant step towards the integration of Danube ports into intermodal transport systems. When it comes to future conferences, the Agency will organize a regional workshop on improving international passenger traffic in October. The aim of the workshop is to encourage the development of national strategies to improve cruising and strengthen dialogue in this area. In addition, the Agency's team expressed its willingness to participate in future DTP projects, bearing in mind that they enable the development of port potential in the Danube region.

Silviu Meterna, General Manager of Pro Danube Romania, Lead Partner, praised the Agency's initiative to hold the meetings of partner institutions live and assessed that the organization of the meeting was very successful. He pointed out that direct communication of participants in project activities is of great importance for their implementation.

Horst Schindler informed the participants of the meeting about the priorities that will be included in the next projects financed by DTP. He paid special attention to projects for the development of the "smart" and "green" Danube. According to him, the call for project proposals will be published in the fall.

Manfred Seitz announced that the Danube Commission is preparing the text of the Declaration on the decarbonisation and sustainability of river and seaports in the Danube region, which is expected to be signed by the end of this year. The declaration will document the will of Danube ports to develop strategies and projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030.

During the meetings, the work of the partners so far was analyzed and further steps for the implementation of activities in the final period of the project were determined. Representatives of the Agency announced that in the coming months, as part of the project, will create master plans for the further development of ports in Prahovo, Bačka Palanka and Bogojevo.

The meetings of the institutions participating in the project represent a platform for the transfer of knowledge and experience, to ensure the balanced development of the port sector on the Danube, it was concluded on the conference.