{"id":411746,"date":"2026-04-23T19:59:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T09:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=70770"},"modified":"2026-04-25T16:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T06:00:08","slug":"port-of-constanta-finalises-acquisition-of-moldovas-only-sea-river-port","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=411746","title":{"rendered":"Port of Constan\u021ba completes takeover of Moldova\u2019s only sea-river port"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The Port of Constan\u021ba has completed the acquisition of 100% of ICS Danube Logistics from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). As a result, the Romanian port authority is now the owner of the Giurgiule\u0219ti International Free Port, Moldova\u2019s only sea-river port.<\/strong><br \/>\n<span id=\"more-100972\"><\/span>The transaction was concluded for \u20ac62m, according to Claudiu Staicu, Deputy Director General of European Transport Programmes at Romania\u2019s Ministry of Transport, writing on LinkedIn.<\/p>\n<p>Giurgiule\u0219ti is located at the junction of Moldova, Romania and Ukraine, between two of the Black Sea region\u2019s main ports: Port of Constan\u021ba and Port of Odesa. As such, \u201cthe strategic rationale makes sense\u201d, Staicu said.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"readmore\">\n<div class=\"readmore-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/ports-terminals\/2025\/05\/romania-bids-for-gifp-in-moldova\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/moldova-85x85.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"readmore-thumbnail\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"readmore-info\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/ports-terminals\/2025\/05\/romania-bids-for-gifp-in-moldova\/\" class=\"readmore-title\">Romania bids for GIFP in Moldova<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<h2>\u2018Ports are struggling\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>However, the acquisition is not expected to resolve all of the structural challenges facing Romanian ports, which have contributed to declining cargo volumes. Staicu noted that \u201cthe existing system \u2014 Constan\u021ba, Gala\u021bi, the Danube corridor \u2014 still lacks the coherent, integrated strategy needed to unlock its potential\u201d. At the same time, Romania is committing substantial investment to a third port located outside its borders.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRomanian port volumes, both on the Black Sea and along the Danube, have been moving in the wrong direction\u201d, he said. While the purchase of Giurgiule\u0219ti is widely seen as a logical step, Staicu argued that it must form part of a broader and coherent national ports strategy. This, he added, will require not only funding but also an \u201cEU-aligned vision\u201d, something that has not always been easy to achieve in the past.<\/p>\n<h2>Rail freight in Giurgiule\u0219ti<\/h2>\n<p>Given its strategic position, Giurgiule\u0219ti also serves as an important rail freight hub. The rail networks of Moldova and Ukraine use the 1,520mm gauge, while Romania operates the 1,435mm standard gauge. However, Giurgiule\u0219ti is linked to the Romanian port of Gala\u021bi by a broad-gauge railway line, removing the need for transhipment at the border.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Port of Constan\u021ba has completed the acquisition of 100% of ICS Danube Logistics from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7995,20143,20157,3260,13939,12339,3341],"tags":[12159],"class_list":["post-411746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ebrd","category-giurgiulesti-international-free-port","category-ics-danube-logistics","category-moldova","category-port-of-constanta","category-ports-terminals","category-romania","tag-world-cargo-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=411746"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":413341,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411746\/revisions\/413341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=411746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=411746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=411746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}