Welcome – Daan Schalk, CEO of North Sea Port

And then summer arrived… the frst summer after two years of being dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic. And the frst one after two summers defned by corona measures.

Though this summer will also be one engraved in people’s memory for a long time to come, as it follows months of crisis in Europe and the world due to the war in Ukraine.

What at frst glance appeared to be a regional confict in the former Soviet Union has grown into a European issue that has been discussed by the EU numerous times, resulting in more than a handful of saction packages against an aggressor. Although the frst sanctions appeared to be only somewhat tangible, it now looks like the consequences will start to become more visible after summer. The export to Ukraine and Russia (this latter country should be named here), which accounts for 100,000t of goods for each country, will come to a halt. Vice versa, the import of raw materials and goods, 1.4t million and 6.2t million respectively, will almost dry up.

The companies in our port are hence facing the challenge of attracting markets elsewhere. And this with the ever rising prices of energy in mind. The possible consequences of the EU sanctions for the port are a secondary matter to our unconditioned support for the national and European sactions and our support for Ukraine. Applying these sanctions is enforced in close dialogue with other ports and the competent authorities in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the EU. On the initiative of, among others, North Sea Port, the broader European port community as part of the European Sea Port Organisation (ESPO) has advocated a collective European approach and expressed its solidarity with Ukraine, as at this European level too, our motto remains ‘Together. Smarter’.

Kind regards,

Daan Schalck CEO North Sea Port