lubomír fojtů, chairman of the czech river barge union, president ebu-uenf

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF INLAND WATERWAYS FOR THE CZECH ECONOMY AND THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE NAVIGABILITY OF THE RIVER ELBE.

Lubomír Fojtů, Chairman of the Czech River Barge Union,President EBU-UENF

Brussels, the 25th of July 2012

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF INLAND WATERWAYS FOR THE CZECH ECONOMY

IRREPLACEABILITY OF THE WATER TRANSPORT FOR SOME CZECH EXPORTERS

AFFINITY TO THE WATER TRANSPORT

Weak affinity: Cargo which is transported in the same directions as the Elbe flows and wchich, under certain conditions, can be transported on the water. For example empty containers

AFFINITY TO THE WATER TRANSPORT

Strong affinity: cargo which is by its character predestinated for the water transport: Agriculture products Chemical and raw materials Wood Steel products

AFFINITY TO THE WATER TRANSPORT

Very strong affinity: cargo that cannot be easily transported by other kinds of transport: Overdimensional cargo Sea going vessels – coasters, special

floating objects (salmon feeders for the open sea, special pontons, etc...)

Transport of hulls

Transport of overdimensional cargo

Plzeň

Ostrava

Děčín

Ústí nad Labem

Mělník

PardubicePraha

Lovosice

Main industrial centres in the Czech Republic with a strong or very strong affinity to the Elbe

ARA, MLK, Ruhrgebiet, Bremen 30 %

Hamburg 55 %

Other Elbe (from Dresden up to Magdeburg and its vicinity) 15 %

Percentage of the main European destinations on the Czech foreign trade realised on the water.

INFLUENCE OF THE WATER TRANSPORT TO THE PRICE FORMATION IN THE LOGISTIC SECTOR

28,80 €

18,80 €

20,80 €

43,80 €

24,50 €

26,30 €

31,20 €

28,60 €

31,20 €

13,00 €14,00 €

10,00 €

15,00 €

20,00 €

25,00 €

30,00 €

35,00 €

40,00 €

45,00 €

Ostrava Děčín Mělník

Transport prices of various transport arts in the destination Czech Republic -Hamburg

Railway directly - contract prices

Road

Combination road-water

Combination rail-watter

Wader directly

Watertransport as a factor of price formation

railway tariff

railway tariffrailway tariff

railway contract prices

railway contract pricesrailway contract prices

0,00 €

10,00 €

20,00 €

30,00 €

40,00 €

50,00 €

60,00 €

70,00 €

80,00 €

90,00 €

100,00 €

Ostrava Mělník Děčín

Comparison of the railway tariffs and railway contract prices for the destination CZ-Hamburg.

EXTERNAL COSTS

Accidents Noise Air pollution Congestions Urban effects

Inland navigation has also been shown to be the most environmentally friendly land transport mode with total external costs currently calculated at 10 Euro per 1 000 tonne-kilometres (by comparison: 35 Euro for road and 15 Euro for rail transport)

English version of the EC doc. Com 2006/6, page 4

IMPROVEMENT OF THE NAVIGABILITY OF THE RIVER ELBE - THE REALITY

62% of the domestic and international water transport volumes in

the Czech Republic have moved to road and railway since 2005!

1994 2004

2005 2010

2011

0

50

100

150

200

250 237

126

154

117 111 76

51

32 27

26

The river fleet registered in the Czech republic

in terms of capacity and total engine power Carrying capacity

(1000 t)

Source: The Czech Ministry of Transport,Yearbooks, http://www.sydos.cz/cs/rocenky.htm

THE BIGGEST SHIP-OWNER, THE CSPL HAD TO REDUCE ITS FLEET FROM139 VESSELS IN 2002TO 66 VESSELS IN 2013

And this all because of a 40 km long section of missing infrastructureon the upper Elbe

The blockage of the lock Decin from the greens has brought to smoke the previously built Czech waterawys infrastructure worth 5 billions Euros!

MAIN ARGUMENTS OF THE GREENS

There is not sufficient cargo flow in the Elbe corridor anyway

Adapt the vessels to the river, not the river to the Elbe

DON’T WE REALLY HAVE THE CARGO FOR THE ELBE?

Let me ask: How much cargo there was transported on the Rhein-Main-Donau channel before the Rhein-Main-Donau channel was built? And today? – approx. 10 mil tons/yearHow much cargo there was transported on the Mosel before the 34 locks were built?And today? – approx 19 mil tons/year.So why some people declare that there is not enough cargo available for upgrading the Elbe to have sense?

According to Eurostat had the czech Rep. in 2005 (a year comparatively very rich in water in the Elbe) the bigger year-on-year growth of the water transport volumes in the whole EU compared to 2004

HOW TO ADAPT THE VESSELS TO THE RIVER?

Price at least 4 000 000 €To be paid back in 10 yearsDepreciation per year abt. 400 000 € (+interest)ie. per month 33 333 €Operating costs per day abt 2 000 €Total costs per month 93 333 €Maximal draft 1 mMax possible breadth (bridges, bredth of the waterway, etc...)

12,5 m

Model destinationAverage tariff 13 € per tonAverage number of loadings 3 per monthTons to be transported per month to pay the costs 7 179 tonsTons to be transported per one trip (= the necessary max capacity of the vessel)

2 393 tons

Average proportion between the weigth of the vessel and its max capacity (MV Labe)

25%

Weight of the empty vessel 610 tonsTotal maximal weight of full loaded vessel 3 003 tonsNecessary length of the vessel abt. 240 m

Concept of the "green" vessel

Decin-Hamburg-Decin

Nonsense

WHY CANNOT WE ADAPT THE TRAINS TO THE TERRAIN?

Because it is the same technical and economical nonsens as to adapt the vessels to the present navigation condition on the upper Elbe!Trains need functional railway,Trucks need functional road,And vessels need functional waterway!

CONCLUSION:

Blocking the improvement of the navigation conditions on the Elbe in Germany and the Czech Republic is an unprecedented discrimination of the Czech economy and leads to decreasing of the competitive ability of the czech exporters.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION.