By using the port of Thessaloniki, which is as far from Belgrade as the Port of Koper (630 kilometers), but with transportation taking five to seven days longer, costs and delivery times of goods would be reduced, according to the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.
President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, stated two days ago at the opening of the Serbian-Greek Business Forum that our country needs a port for export, which will increase, and is ready to buy a part of the Port of Thessaloniki or the Port of Piraeus.
“It is important for us to use the capacities of Thessaloniki and Piraeus, to buy a part of the port. When we increase car production, with mines, steelworks, we will need that”, said Vučić.
It is worth noting here that the majority owner of the Greek Port of Piraeus, with a 67% stake, is the Chinese state-owned shipping company “Cosco.” After 2011, due to the debt crisis, the Greek government sold almost all major seaports and airports to foreign investors. The Chinese have modernized the port, and today, Piraeus is the largest port in the eastern Mediterranean and the seventh-largest in Europe. The Greek government has been quite satisfied with the performance of this company in the largest Greek port so far.
From the Port of Piraeus in Athens to Serbia, between 1,300 and 1,400 trains with containers arrive annually. Solun’s port has significantly fewer trains.
Perhaps that’s why the Chinese are the right address for leasing or purchasing capacity at the port in Athens.
Goran Aleksić, the General Director of the “Srbijatransport” association, states that it is a good proposal to enable the Serbian economy to have a quality flow of goods arriving and departing by ships, regardless of whether they are Chinese or ships of another country.
“For many years, it has been realized that transport is extremely important for the economy and the development of the country. Transport stimulates production and sustains the economy. We have recently seen how the closure of a road in the Red Sea dramatically disrupts flows, and we remember the consequences when a large ship got stuck in the Suez Canal. The coronavirus had negative effects on transport. It is common for companies to lease specific capacities in ports. Maritime traffic is very important for Europe. We, people in transportation, observe how the competition between Italian and German ports looks, how the entire economy gains an advantage when it possesses a certain flow,” says Aleksić.
The construction of a railway corridor to Greece gives special importance to the ports in Greece. With well-organized railway and road traffic, this creates a phenomenal position for Serbia, especially during Expo 2027. According to Aleksić, Expo will be more interesting to countries outside this region and outside Europe than to European countries. Thanks to improved maritime connections, conditions are created to expand the number of participants in Expo, and Serbia gains a significantly better competitive position in the region.
“I am involved in transportation and represent employers in this industry. Transport should never be viewed in isolation from the rest of the economy but in the spirit of economic development and the users of their services,” says Aleksić.
He adds that Serbia has been trying for years to raise the quality and level of cooperation with the Port of Bar, and at this moment Serbian entrepreneurs have quality cooperation with the Port of Rijeka. Raising the quality of cooperation and working methods with ports in Greece is of utmost importance. It is necessary to connect with ports where there are railways, i.e., access to them. That’s why we export through Bar, Rijeka, and why Greece is important to us because there will be a railway corridor.
There has been talk about increased use of Greek ports in the domestic public quite frequently. For example, exactly a year ago, discussions on this topic took place in Thessaloniki under the auspices of our Chamber of Commerce. At that time, there was talk of Serbian entrepreneurs getting more advantages in using this large port.
By using the port of Thessaloniki, which is 630 kilometers away from Belgrade, the same as the Port of Koper but with transport taking five to seven days longer, costs and delivery times for goods would be reduced, said the Serbian Chamber of Commerce. They further explained that, with an agreement between North Macedonia and Serbia through the “Open Balkans” initiative, the transport of container and other goods would be much more favorable and faster.
Why could the increase in capacity or concessions in the two largest Greek ports still be important for Serbia and our economy?
In September of last year, the Thessaloniki Port Authority announced that Thessaloniki Port, owned by Greek-Russian businessman Ivan Savvidis, is connected to the Balkans through a new regular railway line. It was also stated that a container block train would operate from this seaport in northern Greece to Skopje in North Macedonia every week.
Thessaloniki is considered a port for the Balkans and Eastern Europe. It was emphasized that this is the second regular container line to a Balkan country, following the launch of a container service from Thessaloniki to Niš a year earlier.
The company CMA CGM, one of the largest container transportation providers, stated on that occasion that the Thessaloniki-Niš intermodal service has significant advantages. The primary advantage is its connectivity to several maritime routes, including those from China, South Korea, India, the Middle East, and the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as from North America. As explained, the intermodal service allows shipments to reach Niš from Shanghai in 40 days and from Izmir in seven days, as reported by “Plutonlogistik.”
As we learn, this line was briefly interrupted at one point due to a railway track malfunction in Macedonia, but it has since been repaired, and the line has been restored. A source from a major transportation company told “Politika” that Thessaloniki Port is significant for domestic exporters and is widely used, particularly by exporters oriented towards Niš.
Regarding potential concessions in some of the large ports in the surrounding areas, experts have previously emphasized that it would also be strategically important for Serbia to position itself within the largest Romanian Black Sea port, Constanta, or the Slovenian port of Koper.
However, in the meantime, Constanta, the number one port for bulk cargo transport, has become increasingly congested with goods (such as grains) due to events in the Black Sea, making it less accessible for transportation and export companies. Additionally, the largest domestic importers were significant users of the Croatian port due to the cost-effectiveness of rail transport.
Rijeka Port is particularly important for importers, especially in container traffic, due to its proximity, good road infrastructure, and intense competition among carriers. Importers use it to transport goods from China, tropical fruits, bananas, citrus fruits, frozen meat, and fish.
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