The port of Koper expects volumes to drop 8% this year as the impact of the economic crisis hits auto and general cargo throughput particularly hard.
The port of Koper expects volumes to drop 8% this year as the impact of the economic crisis hits auto and general cargo throughput particularly hard.
Port operator Luka Koper said the fall-off in business would result in a 2% slide in operating revenues, as it released its business plan for 2009.
At the same time, Luka Koper"s board strongly defended its investment plan for the port, which would result in a 25% jump in depreciation costs this year.
The plan, which will see ?46m ($55m) pumped into the facility in 2009, has been attacked by critics of the board as unwise at a time of deepening recession.
The board countered, however, that its planned investments were ?crucial to strengthening competitiveness and the most efficient answer to weathering any economic crisis?.
This year"s funding will go towards construction of a new container pier, the purchase of two cranes capable of handling vessels up to a capacity of 7,000 teu, and continued work on a new auto garage.
The board expects much of the funding for the projects to come from port cash flow and the European Union, with ?34.5m available for port investment in Slovenia through 2013 from the European Cohesion Fund.
Luka Koper said that while year-end earnings might be down slightly on last year, they should still top ?10m, with the port"s major markets in eastern and central Europe expected to fare somewhat better through the downturn than other EU economies.
Separately, Luka Koper noted a new Motorways of the Sea between Barcelona and the Slovenian port had qualified for ?2m in European funds over the next three years as part of the Marco Polo II programme.
The new car service running three times a month between Autoterminal Barcelona and Koper will be operated by Neptune Lines and is due to get under way by July.
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