In October 2024, the NGO Western Ukrainian Resource Center, launched project activities under a grant from the USAID Economic Resilience Activity (USAID ERA) titled “Streamlining railway border procedures for faster grain exports to the EU”. This one-year grant project aims at harmonizing cross-border procedures to boost Ukraine’s rail exports of agricultural products, contributing to broader economic recovery.
The Western Ukrainian Resource Center will convene a cross-border group of Ukraine-EU experts to improve technical processes and customs procedures at the three pilot rail border crossing points (BCPs) of Mostyska, Chop, and Vadul Siret, on the borders with Poland, Hungary, and Romania respectively.
Project participants include representatives of the State Customs, Border Guard, Ukrainian Railways, and regional state administrations of Lviv, Zakarpattia and Chernivtsi Oblasts. They will contribute to analyzing the challenges and opportunities in the current processes at the three BCPs, and will propose how to improve technical and customs procedures, and increase the capacity of the personnel involved in cargo registration.
Background: Between 2023-2026, USAID, through the Economic Resilience Activity (ERA), is dedicating $115 million to support the State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure of Ukraine (SARDI), Ukrainian Railways (UZ), and State Customs Services, to upgrade border crossing points (BCPs) to improve grain trade and export volumes.