Romania and Ukraine: cooperation based on logistics and investments

In the context of the war, Romania has become the most important transit and logistics hub for Ukrainian exports and imports, especially at the beginning of the full-scale aggression. This country became a supplier of energy resources and other products that are important in the current conditions. Romania began to receive not only income from the transit of our exports and EU funds for infrastructure projects related to logistics in Ukraine, but also benefits from investments by Ukrainian companies.

Trade flow between countries

Imports of Romanian goods to Ukraine are showing steady growth. According to the State Customs Service, at the end of 2024 and 2025, the indicator increased by 9.1% and 11.4% year-on-year. Ukrainian exports to Romania showed a sharp increase in 2022–2023, rising 2.5 times to $3.7–3.8 billion. Subsequently, they declined sharply due to restrictive measures imposed by Romania on Ukrainian agricultural exports. In 2024 and 2025, the figure fell by 53% and 20% y/y, to $1.8 billion and $1.4 billion.

Romania, like other Eastern European countries, introduced restrictions on certain types of Ukrainian products in the form of import licensing. To understand the context: Ukrainian agricultural exports in physical terms more than tripled in 2022–2023, reaching 11 million tons and 11.7 million tons, compared to 3.4 million tons in pre-war 2021.

A significant part of the increase was due to transit, as it was physically impossible to increase domestic consumption of Ukrainian agricultural products by millions of tons in just two years. After the introduction of restrictive measures, the figure fell to pre-war levels and even lower (2025 – 2.6 million tons).

In 2021, Ukraine had a trade surplus with Romania of almost $750 million, which grew to $2.2–2.3 billion in 2022–2023. Restrictions imposed by Romania on Ukrainian agricultural exports reversed the situation: by the end of 2025, Romania had a trade surplus with Ukraine of $493 million.

Romanian customs statistics reflect a different trade dynamics than the data of the State Customs Service. According to Eurostat, Romanian exports to Ukraine in 2025 decreased by 9% y/y – to $1.8 billion, while Ukrainian customs recorded an increase of 11.4% y/y.

The discrepancy can be explained by the fact that the Romanian data includes re-exports – goods from other European countries imported into Ukraine from warehouses in Romania. According to Romanian data, Ukrainian exports to Romania also increased (by 6% y/y, to $1.4 billion), while the State Customs Service recorded a 20% y/y decline.

Ukraine mainly supplies agricultural and mining products to Romania. Sunflower oil, corn, soybeans, and meal are the leading products in the agricultural sector. Among the goods with high added value are food products, cable products, cement, and rolled steel .

The Ukrainian mining industry maintains a strong position in the Romanian market. At the end of 2025, Ukraine’s share of steel exports to Romania in physical terms was 5.6%, or 372,000 tons. Due to the crisis in the Romanian steel industry, supplies of raw materials from Ukraine to this market ceased last year, although in previous years their volume reached $150-200 million.

Romania’s imports to Ukraine consist of goods with high added value. In recent years, the structure of supplies from Romania has changed due to the following items:

1. Energy resources (petroleum products, liquefied gas, electricity). Romania, like other Eastern European countries, actively supplies energy resources to Ukraine. In 2025, supplies decreased by 17% y/y to $517 million. A significant share of Romanian exports is recorded only for electricity – 15.7% (approximately $91 million) in 2025.
2. Consumer goods. Romania supplies Ukraine with household appliances, medicines, hygiene products, and other goods, but the volumes of supplies are insignificant compared to other EU countries. The main item of Romanian exports in 2025 was generators ($369 million), which was due to large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
3. Defense products. According to estimates, Ukraine purchased $226 million worth of military products from Romania in 2025.
4. Transport, industrial goods, and raw materials. Last year, Romania exported $130 million worth of passenger cars to Ukraine. The value of this item is small compared to supplies from other European countries.

Economic cooperation

Investment cooperation between Ukraine and Romania remains less developed than trade cooperation. According to the National Bank, in the first nine months of 2025, direct investment from Romania to Ukraine amounted to only $56 million as of September 30, 2025. The volume doubled over the year, but it is insignificant compared to the amount of investment from Poland ($1.5 billion).

The reverse flow of investments has not been disclosed by the NBU for confidentiality reasons. It is only known that it is quite significant. DTEK Renewables International alone invested at least €200 million in a wind farm and two solar power plants in Romania in 2023–2024.

Romania, like a number of other European countries, insures the risks of its own businesses in Ukraine. In 2025, the country joined the InvestEU Ukraine Export Credit Guarantee Facility initiative, providing approximately €44 million in guarantees to support Romanian exporters operating in the Ukrainian market.

The arrival of Ukrainian businesses on the Romanian market has become an important long-term trend. While forced relocation prevailed in 2022–2023, Ukrainian companies subsequently began to view Romania as a springboard for expansion into the EU market. According to estimates, approximately 900 Ukrainian companies entered the country’s market in 2022.

The following are examples of Ukrainian businesses entering the Romanian market:

1. In 2025, the road construction company Avtomagistral-Pivden signed a contract to build a 33.7 km section of the Arad–Oradea expressway. The contract is worth €460 million. Work is scheduled to begin in 2027.
2. By the summer of 2025, the Aurora retail chain expanded its network in Romania to 50 stores, starting its expansion from the border town of Suceava.
3. Variant Agro established Romania’s first irrigation equipment manufacturing plant.
4. In 2023, Nova Poshta entered the Romanian market, opening its first branch in Bucharest.
5. IT companies opened R&D centers and offices to serve European customers.
6. There are numerous SMEs operating in the furniture, food, and light industry sectors.

An important trend was the acquisition of Romanian assets by large Ukrainian companies with the aim of expanding their presence in the European market and diversifying their production capacities. In December 2025, two landmark deals involving Romanian assets of ArcelorMittal took place:

1. Metinvest acquired Tubular Products Iasi S.A., a manufacturer of small-diameter welded pipes. Zaporizhstal plans to supply up to 180,000 tons of hot-rolled products to this plant this year. This will enable the plant to resume normal production, as ArcelorMittal has had problems with raw materials (billet) for its own needs in recent years. The company’s products (maximum capacity – 240,000 tons of pipe products per year) will primarily be in demand on the Romanian market.
2. Interpipe has signed an agreement to acquire Tubular Products Roman S.A., which specializes in the production of seamless pipes. The closing of the deal is subject to the fulfillment of special conditions.

An auction for the sale of the Liberty Galați steel plant is also planned for March 2026, in which Ukraine’s Metinvest may also participate.

Economic ties and the need to develop infrastructure are creating new opportunities for Romanian businesses, even in wartime. More than 200 Romanian companies are participating in projects aimed at rebuilding Ukraine. Significant opportunities will open up within the framework of post-war reconstruction projects.

Romania is already reaping tangible economic benefits from its cooperation with Ukraine: expansion of sales markets, income from transit and service fees, and development of border infrastructure. For the most part, their activity is limited to supplying the Ukrainian market and, at best, opening offices or warehouses in Ukraine’s border regions. Among the companies actively operating in the Ukrainian market are Grampet Group (logistics), OMV Petrom (fuel supply), Bog’Art (construction), and Bilka Steel (roofing systems manufacturing).

Logistics hub

Romania’s most significant contribution to the Ukrainian economy was the transformation of the port of Constanta into Ukraine’s main export and import hub at the beginning of the war. Between 2022 and 2024, Ukraine exported 29 million tons of grain through Constanta. Even after the opening of the maritime corridor in August 2023, when the need for transshipment in Constanta declined sharply, Ukrainian grain exporters actively used this transshipment facility along with barge deliveries from the Ukrainian ports of Reni and Izmail on the Danube.

Ukrainian agricultural holdings and logistics companies not only used Romanian logistics capabilities, but also actively invested in grain transshipment capacities in the Danube ports (Galati, Breila) and Constanta.

Although the importance of this route for Ukrainian exporters has now diminished, all parties have benefited from its development. Romania has invested heavily in port and rail infrastructure and strengthened its transit position in the Black Sea region, while Ukraine has gained a reliable alternative route for exports during the war. Romania has expanded its regional influence by purchasing Moldova’s only port on the Danube, Giurgiulești.

The development of automotive logistics has become important for Ukrainian exports. The largest joint infrastructure project, worth over €35 million, is the construction of a new bridge and road crossing between Bila Tserkva (Zakarpattia region) and Sighetu Marmatiei. The project is financed by Romania and the EU, while Ukraine is responsible for building the road to the checkpoint.

Another important project is the construction of a bridge across the Danube between Orlivka (Ukraine) and Isaccea (Romania). A ferry crossing, which opened in the fall of 2023, operates here, but it is regularly attacked by Russian drones. The project is undergoing final approval.

With funding from Romania and the European Union, construction is underway on the 450-kilometer Autostrada Moldovei. It will run from Bucharest to the border with Ukraine. The road will create a new European transport corridor for Ukraine and provide another route to Romanian ports.

Prospects for cooperation

There are far fewer conflicts in relations between Ukraine and Romania than in relations with other Eastern European countries. This country is a more reliable partner, albeit with less economic significance and political influence.

For Romania, deepening cooperation with Ukraine means:

• expansion of the role of the regional logistics hub;
• sustained demand for Romanian industrial products and services;
• attraction of Ukrainian investments;
• access to a large post-war reconstruction market;
• strengthening of the country’s geopolitical position as an important player on the eastern flank of the EU.

For Ukraine, developing cooperation with Romania provides:

• an alternative export corridor for agricultural products and steel raw materials;
• access to energy resources, industrial goods, and raw materials;
• access to European markets through the purchase of Romanian assets or the construction of facilities;
• participation in the development of European structural funds;
• potential investments in post-war reconstruction.

The Ukrainian-Romanian partnership has already proven its effectiveness in wartime. Post-war reconstruction is an opportunity to take it to a whole new level, transforming it from a logistical necessity into a full-fledged economic alliance between two neighboring countries.