The national company Constanta Sea Ports Administration continues negotiations with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to acquire shares in the operator of the Giurgiulesti port. It is Moldova’s only port that has the capacity to receive ships from the Black Sea, and it owns 480 metres of the Danube coast, which Moldova received from Ukraine in a land swap.
Bucharest’s offer is around 80 million euros, but is being challenged in court by one of the Romanian company’s minority shareholders.
The national company, Constanta Sea Ports Administration, says it wants to buy shares in the company operating the Giurgiulesti international free port – Danube Logistics SRL, in order to expand the economic zone of the Romanian port of Constanta. Such a need is dictated by the context of Ukraine’s recovery, reconstruction and modernisation, says the Romanian side.
Two separate port structures operate in the village of Giurgiulesti: the passenger and cargo port, owned by the Moldovan state, and the Giurgiulesti International Free Port, managed by a Dutch company. The latter has the status of an international port until 2030. In 2021, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) became the sole shareholder of Danube Logistics, which is the concessionaire of the port.