According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ukraine has signed the Danube Declaration on inland waterway development.
The Danube Declaration was adopted on June 7, 2012 in Luxembourg at Ministerial Meeting on the Danube affairs. Transport ministers and heads of delegations from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Romania and Slovakia adopted the Declaration. Countries-signatories of the declaration committed themselves to ensure implementation of regular works on fairway maintenance on the Danube, provide funding and use reliable and effective work methods in the stream channel, as well as apply special equipment (e. g. signaling equipment, hydrographic survey vessels, hydrometric stations and navigational aids) and highly qualified workforce.
Ukraine’s signing the Danube Declaration is another step towards integration with the EU. At the same time, the efforts to develop domestic river shipping on the Dnipro River are insufficient, which manifests in constant dredging delays, as well as unsettled legislation on river transportation. (UkrAgroConsult/Business World Magazine)