The arrangement of Israel's ports is scheduled to start today with the signatures of the Ministry of Transport, Miri Regev and the Minister of Finance, Bizalil Soutrich, on the documents of the certificates for the ports. This arrangement was first reported by “Globes” in April last year, and since then negotiations have been held with the five ports listed in it, with the aim of reaching the agreement as much as possible. Despite the expected signatures today, the gaps remain between the two parties.
The reform of the ports of Israel began twenty years ago. It was aimed at improving the efficiency and exit of goods from and from the country, 98 % of which went by sea. Among its rulings are the privatization of Haifa and Ishdoud veteran ports, and the construction of the Israeli shipbuilding port, owned, among other things, Shlomi Fujel, Asey Schmiller, Sami Katsaf.
In addition, it was decided to build other perpetrators: the Gulf Port opposite Haifa Port, which started work in 2021, which is run by the Chinese company Sipg; And the southern port of Ashdod, run by Swiss SIL.
It was decided that the new ports will mainly deal with the containers, and that when the size of the containers dealt with in Israel reaches 4.9 TEU, the new ports will be allowed to operate an additional swarm, which has already been created but in lethargy. The Minister of Transport and the Minister of Finance has the estimated authority to allow the additional keys to operate before reaching this number. The privatization of Haifa Port was completed in early 2023, with the port to the Adani group of India and the Israeli company Gadot.
The movement of containers in Israel ports is expected to reach the target level by 2035, but in general the goods are not shipped in containers, there was a delay caused by the Tuevinary epidemic – which affected the ports around the world – when 80 public cargo ships waited outside the ports of Israel. The ministers of transportation and financing at the time allowed, Merav Michaeli and Avigdor LibeRman, for the private sector's ports to unload public shipping at The Idle Quays for two years. This statement ended in April last year. The ports are asked to allow the operation of Ops, but the veteran ports have objected and demand their own benefits.
According to the plan formulated by the Director of the Ministry of Public Transport Moshe bin Zakin and the Department of the Ministry of Finance budgets, it will receive the private ports that were built alongside veteran ports – the Gulf port in Haifa and South Port in Ashadoud – permits to operate the profits of public shipping, but not containers or vehicles, for an additional six years.
Special ports were supported in their request by industrialists who argued that the delays in shipping that arrived in Israel had severe economic consequences, a claim that found support in a report by the chief economist in the Ministry of Finance that polled the impact of the roaming epidemic on inflation. The ports to be allowed to unload vehicles also wanted to expand their activity in this profitable place.
In exchange for the privilege of private ports, Ashdod will be allowed to assign an additional berth that has become empty so far for pressure on the port to undergo privatization. However, the full privatization of the Ashdod port has decreased from the agenda, due to the opposition by the ministers. The Board of Directors of the port, headed by Schul Schneider, promotes the stock offer instead.
Haifa Port was the most vocal feature of the arrangement. Her objections took a diplomatic turn when the Indian ambassador filed a complaint with the Foreign Ministry. Haifa Manager has argued that the permission to go forward to use the bets for its Chinese opponent would tend to measures from the effective competition that the state sought to a position in which Haifa port is responsible for collapse.
The government accepted Haifa's partial demands. The Haifa Melt will be allowed to grant early retirement employees, in a way that will not affect their ability to pay profits to their owners, and will also receive a land to empty and store.
An important decision that remains a suspended concern for Haifa Port to use the state's funds with the port during the sale period, which is allocated to invest in the port infrastructure, in order to reduce heavy costs to finance the port purchase. Another issue under discussion is the financing of the investments planned by the port in real estate projects on the Haifa waterfront.
The port of Israeli shipbuilding ponds is also part of the arrangement. When it was built in 2008, it was allowed to empty public shipping only, up to 5 % of the total goods entering Israel. This restriction arose from the request by Histadrut Since the privatization of Haifa Port, this restriction has been gradually raised.
This arrangement represents one of the most important reforms promoted by the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance in recent years, as it puts an end to various demands of its ports related to its operations and requirements by some of them to put restrictions on its competitors. The arrangement – although it is not perfect and is still affected by cells and disputes – is very important to ensure economic efficiency that derives from operating ports under tension between competition and financial stability. However, he is expected to meet great opposition from some players, who will object to the benefits granted to their competitors.
It was published by Globes, Israel Business News – En.globes.co.il – on March 2, 2025.
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