The cargo transshipment terminal in Slavonski Brod, built last year as part of infrastructure improvements in the port of Slavonski Brod, officially started operations on Wednesday, 1 June. The construction of the terminal was the latest phase of modernization worth over €17 million, and was co-financed with €6.63 million by the Connecting Europe Facility. A total of 17,000 m3 of concrete and almost 2,000 tons of steel were used in the construction of the new berths, vertical shore, two docks and terminals with auxiliary facilities. The project envisages the transshipment of one and a half million tons of various goods per year.
“Containers have started to arrive continuously in Slavonski Brod, which is now registered as a port of loading and unloading on an international scale. Wood from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia is currently here for shipment. We are in negotiations to deliver and ship containers from the south of Hungary via the Port of Brod. It is closer for them to come here for containers than to go to Budapest, where the containers arrive from Antwerp and Rotterdam “, said the director of the Port of Brod, Marijan Jurić.
The position of the Port of Slavonski Brod on the left bank of the Sava River, 4 kilometers southeast of the town of Slavonski Brod, is favorable for river traffic with Central and Southern Europe as the most cost-effective form of freight transport. The port has road and railway connections to international transport corridors, as well as to economic entities from Slavonski Brod itself.
Project that has a bright future
The beginning of operations at the terminal prompted a visit by members of the Government on Thursday, June 2. The Port of Brod was visited by the Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, the Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković, the Minister of Agriculture Marija Vučković and the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Davor Filipović.
Minister Butković announced that a construction permit for a project to improve the navigability of the Sava, worth €2.7 million, is expected to be issued by the end of the year. The project in question aims to rehabilitate the critical section Novi Grad-Jaruge. The preparation of project and study documentation and obtaining the necessary papers and permits, in preparation for the implementation of the Novi Grad-Jaruge project, is also financed through the Connecting Europe Facility.
The Minister emphasized the need to raise the navigability of the Sava to a higher level, among other things by deepening the riverbed. Extending the navigability period to at least seven months per year would ensure a bright future for Slavonski Brod Port Authority projects.