Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction – Minister of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine Oleksiy Kuleba met with the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Arsenio Dominguez. The discussion focused on strategic priorities for cooperation to ensure the security of shipping in the Black and Azov Seas.
This is Arsenio Dominguez’s first visit to Ukraine.
The meeting was also attended by First Deputy Minister Alyona Shkrum, Deputy Minister Andriy Kashuba, and Deputy Director of the IMO Maritime Safety Division Ismael Cobos Delgado.
“I am pleased to welcome Secretary General Dominguez to Ukraine. It is important for us to continue our joint work on ensuring the safety of shipping, preserving human life and environmental safety. Port protection is not only a matter of our economic stability, but also of the world's food security. Since the launch of the Ukrainian Sea Corridor, 109 million tons of cargo have been transshipped, of which 70 million are grain. This is more than 4,000 vessels that deliver food to Africa, Asia and Europe. The whole world is counting on us. It is also important to simultaneously put pressure on the shadow tanker fleet of Russia. Today, despite the sanctions imposed, it continues to transport oil around the world, providing financial resources for terror and the war against Ukraine. I would like to thank the International Maritime Organization for its continued support for Ukraine. We believe that together we can achieve the main global goal of the IMO: to ensure safe shipping and a high level of protection for those working at sea,” said Oleksiy Kuleba.
Alyona Shkrum outlined for the Secretary-General the main losses suffered by the maritime sector since the start of the full-scale invasion. These included 385 destroyed port infrastructure facilities, 31 damaged civilian vessels and 98 injured civilian port workers.
The Deputy Minister stressed the importance of a strong position on the part of the IMO in order to be able to protect Ukraine's port infrastructure more effectively in the future.
Following the shelling of the Odessa Seaport on 11 March, when a ballistic missile severely damaged the MJ PINA vessel and killed four Syrian nationals, Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez condemned the killings of seafarers.
During the meeting, heassured the Ministry of Development and Trade team that the IMO is ready for active cooperation and will consistently assist Ukraine in the future. The parties agreed to continue to maintain contact, in particular, Oleksiy Kuleba invited the IMO Secretary General to the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025, which is to be held this July in Rome.
We will recall that in July 2024, by Decree of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, the Maritime Security Strategy of Ukraine was approved. One of the main tasks of the Strategy is Ukraine's compliance with international obligations under the IMO conventions.
Ukraine's strategic plans also provide for accession to a number of other international conventions related to shipping and ensuring safety at sea.
The parties agreed to support cooperation within the framework of the Plan for the Restoration of Maritime Transport of Ukraine, which the Ministry of Development and Trade developed jointly with the Estonian Ministry of Climate in early 2024.
The plan is detailed and covers all important areas of the maritime industry of Ukraine. Its total budget plan is 550 million euros.
For reference.
The IMO is the main international organization that carries out legal regulation of international merchant shipping.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the IMO, a number of important decisions have been made to support Ukraine (deprivation of the Russian Federation from the IMO Council, suspension of the Russian Federation's participation in any IMO technical cooperation activities). Requirements were made public for the Russian Federation to cease military operations in the Black and Azov Seas, and the practice of regularly informing IMO member states about the impact of Russia's armed invasion on international shipping was introduced.