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Exclusive Interfax-Ukraine Interview with Andriy Klymenko, Head of the Monitoring Group of the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies and Editor-in-Chief of the BlackSeaNews

Text: Alyona Mangelo

What is currently holding back the growth of cargo traffic from Ukrainian ports: their capabilities, risks and freight costs, supply chains to ports, or the economic situation in the country?

The biggest constraint is the lack of the required number of air defense systems. Greater Odesa is a large region, and if you also take in account the expansive infrastructure of several Danube ports located there, it becomes clear that one Patriot battery isn’t enough.

We need several divisions of modern air defense systems of various types and characteristics. That is, the air defense of ports must be very powerful. Until then, we can certainly keep wasting our breath discussing freight rates, loading speeds, berthing times, etc.

In truth, the main factor is the level of protection against air strikes. Despite the risks, however, I’d like to suggest another criterion for our current port operation besides the simple increase in the number of vessels calling at the ports of Greater Odesa — namely, the number of those ships’ repeat calls there. Those make about 65-70% of the total number of vessels. Some of them have already called there for the fifth or seventh time, while others have done that 10 or 12 times. What does it tell us? Obviously, that shipowners rate the security level quite highly — otherwise, they wouldn’t have risked their ships, costing millions, and the lives of their crew members.

I heard a top manager of one of Ukraine's largest exporters say that only "scrap metal" — the cheapest shipping companies with risky