Thessaloniki Port Authority presented the Greek port as a primary trade gateway for Serbia during a major conference on changing Balkan transport corridors.
Commercial director Nikolaos Fokas represented the port operator at a panel focused on shifts in Serbian foreign trade, telling delegates that Thessaloniki offers a reliable and competitive route for container traffic and conventional cargo. The event gathered nearly 300 logistics and transport executives from 20 European nations.
Commercial attaches from the Greek Embassy in Belgrade attended the session to support the port authority. Organisers used the conference to unveil the direction of Serbia's national transport strategy through 2034, which is currently being drafted.
The Serbian strategy places special emphasis on combined transport and stronger rail connections to regional seaports. Serbia is landlocked in southeastern Europe and relies on neighbouring coastal terminals to move goods to and from international markets.
Regional trade and rail connections
Fokas said the port stands ready to deliver flexible alternatives amid shifting global trading patterns. He argued that the competitiveness of any transport corridor depends on the entire journey of the cargo, rather than the port terminal alone.
Faster supply chains require railway and road upgrades, simpler customs procedures, and close cooperation between border authorities and freight operators alongside new routes, Fokas said. Thessaloniki, situated on the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, has long served as northern Greece's primary commercial harbour and a natural outlet for the central Balkans.
Economic ties between the port and the Balkan interior have historical roots. A Yugoslav Free Zone operated within Thessaloniki's harbour from 1929 until 1975. Today, the Port of Thessaloniki Free Zone covers more than 1,000,000 square metres, providing bonded storage and distribution space that Serbian companies can use for import and export operations.
Pier expansion for container ships
Port management is also expanding Pier 6, an engineering project that will allow the facility to handle ultra-large container vessels of up to 24,000 TEU, or twenty-foot equivalent units. Such vessels represent the largest class of container ships currently operating on global sea routes.
The deeper berth will create conditions to attract direct maritime liner services linking northern Greece with Far East manufacturing centres and India. Fokas said that regular connections of this scale will offer Serbian and regional importers and exporters wider access to international production and trading centres.
