Backa Palanka Port to invest €2 million in 486-meter quay - Construction of 60,000-tonne grain terminal in the pipeline for early 2013

The port of Backa Palanka is going to quadruple its reloading capacities until the end of 2012. This upgrade will be possible owing to the announced construction of a new quay 486 meters long, in which EUR 2 million will be invested, eKapija learns. The first works on this project will commence as early as in mid-September, and the management of Backa Palanka Port plans to have all ground preparation works finished until the year's end.

- We have obtained a location permit from the Provincial Secretariat for Town Planning and Development, and the main project design audit is now underway. We expect it to be finished in next few days, after which we will appoint the contractor – Milivoje Kujundzic, director of Backa Palanka Port, says for eKapija.

He explains that the new quay will be built of two combined materials - vertical concrete wall (so-called "diaphragm") and steel tilt.

- We are already negotiating with the German company TyssenKrupp on the delivery of steel tilt so that it is almost for certain that that material will be purchased from them – says Kujundzic.

Backa Palanka Port operates as an independent company since 2002 (it was part of the water engineering company Dunav before that), and it became part of the business system Victoria Group in December 2006.

- With one quay 50 meters long, which we use at the moment, our annual reloading capacities amount to about 250,000 tonnes of goods. Having in mind our ambitions, that is not enough, which is why we want to improve our operations by building a new quay. Once the works are completed, our estimates are that the reloading capacities will grow to about 1,000,000 tonnes of goods per year – Milivoje Kujundzic explains for eKapija.

Backa Palanka Port is situated on the left bank of the Danube, in the industrial zone in the city outskirts. The main route to Novi Sad and Sombor (with the bypass around Backa Palanka) passes near the port so that it can be reached directly, with no need for going through the city center. It is directly connected with all countries from the Northern Sea to the Black Sea - the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine - via Rhine-Main-Danube canal. The vicinity of borders with Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina makes its position even more significant.

He says that the port obtained a location permit for the grain terminal in late July and that the whole project, along with all infrastructure access facilities and equipment, is worth about EUR 25 million.

- I cannot tell you at moment when the construction works on that grain silo will commence because that does not depend exclusively on us. I believe it will take about one year to finish the project design, after which it will be audited and a building permit should be issued. If everything goes as we plan, construction of a grain storage should start in spring 2013 – says Kujundzic.

Backa Palanka Port is also engaged in the sale of building materials - sand, natural and separated gravel, and concrete.

The company produces ready-made concrete using a Wiggert production line. The production capacity is 16 m2/h, and the company delivers ready-made concrete to the site.

M.S.