Construction of the €34.4 million bulk cargo terminal in the Port of Osijek officially started on 16 January. Once the new terminal becomes operational under a concession holder, the level of environmental protection during transhipment of cargo and safety of ships in port will be raised, the accessibility of port infrastructure will be increased, a more efficient method of intermodal freight transport introduced and operating costs will go down.
The new bulk cargo terminal will be located on the right bank of the river Drava, in the eastern part of the Osijek port area.
Director of the Port Authority Osijek Iva Horvat presented the project to the public on Wednesday, 25 January. “The most demanding aspect is the construction of 240 metres of the quay wall, since it is highly dependent on the water level, and apart from that, four rail tracks will be built as part of the project, we will gain two new berths, a cargo basket and bulk cargo storage yards, 300 metres of access road, an electricity substation and other necessary features” emphasized the Director.
The Port of Osijek is mainly oriented towards transshipment of bulk cargo (coal, slag, iron ore, gravel, artificial fertilizer), which represents about sixty percent of the total amount of cargo handled.
The Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure is funding the construction of the terminal through the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Cohesion 2014 – 2020. The Grant Contract with the Ministry and the Central Finance and Contracting Agency awarded €29.9 million to the Port Authority Osijek for the project. The Cohesion Fund share in the grant amount is 85%, and the remaining 15% represents the national share.
The contractor GH Holding, headquartered in Ljubljana, has 28 months available to complete the works, calculated from the start of construction on 16 January.