The Russia-Ukraine war has significantly disrupted Black Sea grain logistics, reshaping trade flows, sparking infrastructure investments, and altering market strategies. Louisa Gorban, CEO of Rail Hub Transylvania (RHT), provides valuable insights into how the region has adapted to these challenges. Through RHT’s strategic initiatives, she highlights key lessons learned and new opportunities for growth in the grain and logistics industries.
Louisa Gorban
CEO of RHT
The Russia-Ukraine war has underscored the critical importance of infrastructure investments and adaptive strategies. Amid these challenges, Rail Hub Transylvania (RHT) has emerged as a pivotal logistics player, bridging Western Europe and the Black Sea through Romania. In an exclusive interview with Miller Magazine, Louisa Gorban, CEO of RHT, shares a compelling account of the company’s strategic vision, its proactive responses to emerging challenges, and the broader lessons learned by the logistics and grain industries during this turbulent period.
RHT’s strategic mission is deeply intertwined with its geographic advantage and infrastructure investments. Initially established in 2019 as an internal logistics arm for Transylvania Invest S.A., RHT has evolved into a hub and intermodal operator. Located along the IV Pan-European Corridor, RHT leverages a strategic position to facilitate connectivity between Black Sea ports like Constanța and Western Europe.
The Russia-Ukraine war has disrupted traditional Black Sea trade routes, compelling players to seek alternative corridors for Ukrainian grain exports. Louisa notes that while investments in cross-border rail and transshipment facilities have supported Ukrainian flows, “Odesa and the ports in general remain the best solution for Ukraine in terms of volumes and export routes.” However, the conflict has reshaped trade dynamics, with Ukrainian grain reaching new markets via European railways and ports. “Today, due to changes in regulation made by processors in Europe to import Ukrainian grains, a consistent volume is still delivered through the big ports to Western European buyers,” Louisa explains.
The war has also highlighted the need for geopolitical coordination and infrastructural resilience. As Louisa explains, joint investments between Ukraine and European nations have focused on expanding inland transport capacity, ensuring access to critical gateways, and securing supply chain continuity.
She underscores that a fragmented agribusiness landscape hinders regional cooperation. To secure supply chains and enhance export competitiveness, she advocates for coordinated action plans involving governments, private enterprises, and industry associations. She suggests creating a unified market with integrated financial and risk management tools and envisions a revived Eastern European commodity exchange to foster sustainable agribusiness practices. Drawing from historical precedents, she proposes the establishment of an Eastern European commodity exchange to reflect and regulate the commercial realities of the region.
Here, Louisa Gorban shares her insights, shedding light on how the Russia-Ukraine conflict has transformed logistics and grain trade:
Ms. Gorban, could you elaborate on RHT’s strategic vision for connecting Western Europe with the Black Sea through Romania?
Rail Hub Transylvania began its development in 2019 as an in-house logistics company for our group’s grain trading business, Transylvania Invest S.A. Shortly after, it evolved into a hub and intermodal operator, largely due to significant investments in rail infrastructure.
The vision, the strategy and the goal are projected into a synergy able to consolidate and grow our position as an adaptable and multipurpose terminal, serving major flows of import and export from Turkey, Poland and Germany, via Romania, for different industries.
The rail infrastructure and location of our terminal allow us to benefit of maximum length (up to 700 m) and tonnage (2000 net weight/ train), in both directions, Western Europe and Constanta Port, a cost efficiency reflected in the transport price.
Intermodal transport is at the core of RHT’s services. What factors have driven RHT’s decision to focus on this model, and how does it benefit your clients?
Three main factors gave to RHT the possibility to develop into a hub and a tailor-made logistics supplier and I would summarise those as follows: First is the know-how in rail transport as over the years, most of the grain volume is delivered by rail to Constanta Port and all over Europe.
Second is the vision of adding value to existing businesses and to constant investments by developing the intermodal terminal, in the same place where the grain storage facilities are located, with a surface of 13 hectares with direct access in the IV Pan European Corridor, one of the key rail transport routes running between Dresden/Nuremberg in Germany and Thessaloniki (Greece) / Constanța (Romania) / Istanbul (Turkey).
Third is understanding the need of the market for cost-efficient and sustainable transport during a volatile economy, where we believe that by combining different industries through customised logistics and concentrated hubs, durability can be achieved.