Mainly on the Elbe River - Central Europe

4 CONDITIONS FOR MAXIMUM EXPLOITATION
OF TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTIC POTENTIAL OF A ELBE
WATERWAY
The basic condition for efficient logistics is fully functional transport network. To utilize the
potential advantages of all transport modes, development of all types of transport network must be
ensured. Utilization of only road or railway transport for commodity transportation and construction
of logistic facilities for these two modes only is not sustainable in a long-term perspective. Capacity
of road and railway infrastructure will not be sufficient for increasing transport volumes causing
negative impact on traffic flow (the congestion costs reach 1,5 % of GDP in some European
countries), decreased safety and reliability, and furthermore the negative impact
on the environment. The share of logistics in Europe is for recent years estimated to around 14 %
of GDP, while the growth of this industry is faster than the average growth of the entire economy.
In the Czech Republic, the share of transport and logistics is approximately 10% of GDP. The
logistic activities associated with commodity transportation constitute about 38 % of the total
logistic costs. Support of the intermodal transport and logistics is valuable only for the fully
functional transport network.
4.1 SUPPORT SRATEGY FOR LOGISTICS AND WATERWAY TRANSPORT IN
THE CZECH REPUBLIC
During the meeting on 12 th December 2009, the Government of the CR adopted the “Strategy
for supporting logistics by public funds” elaborated by the Ministry of Transport as a default system
approach for the field of logistics. The strategy includes specific procedures supporting
establishment of public logistic centers (PLC), which is important for providing logistic services in
areas associated with various transport modes. By its resolution, the government requires from the
Ministry of Transport to suggest specific instruments for funding of the PLC development, to ensure
protection of areas proposed for the future PLC including further measures and to evaluate
efficiency of these measures by the end of 2010.
The issue of the PLC is not closed yet. Financing by public resources is not very probable in
times of required saving. On the other hand, almost every inland port is a logistic centre (not to be
confused with logistic warehouses, which are part of logistic centers). PLC should be available to
every provider of logistic services interested in providing commodity transportation. However, this
does not imply that a private investment with a private owner must exist. In reality, almost every
inland port naturally operates as PLC (e.g. the public ports of Lovosice and Mělník). The opposite
example is the non-public port Lovochemie Lovosice.
Czech Republic is in terms of PLC issues below average, especially compared to Germany.
Although there are plenty modern storage centers, they are almost exclusively situated near
A feasibility study for “Improvement of Conditions for the River Transport in Central Europe (mainly on the Elbe
River)“ realized within the ChemLog project 138