July 31, 2023, 17:10

Export of Ukrainian grain – Denys Marchuk on working on alternative grain export routes

As part of the United Nations and Türkiye-brokered accord on cooperation with Ukraine, consultations continue to ensure that the Black Sea Grain Initiative is continued. At the same time, Kyiv ponders alternative routes for Ukrainian exporting products.

It was emphasized by Denys Marchuk, Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council, during a briefing at Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform.

According to him, as part of the work on seeking alternative ways, today, there are leading agricultural associations appealing to the European Commission from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy in order to expand the potential of alternative routes to plus 1-1.5 million tons, given the existing potential. 

“That is, in total, if all the favorable circumstances are in place, we could transport 4-4.5 million tons per month, but this requires several things to be done. First, we need to expand the infrastructure of the ports in the European zone. Because there is one pricing policy when it comes to Ukrainian producers transporting their goods to the ports of Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania, but it’s quite another matter when we enter the ports of the Baltic, the Adriatic, or Germany or the Netherlands, and this requires additional pricing, on average, plus $40-45 per ton,” he explained and noted that there was a corresponding appeal to the European Commission regarding the possibility of partial compensation for transit costs.

In addition, Denys Marchuk noted that it is necessary to improve transportation through transit zones, in particular, to avoid artificially created barriers by ensuring faster movement of grain out of Ukraine. 

“In this context, we emphasized that it might be even more appropriate to carry out phytosanitary inspections at the place where the products are sold instead of when crossing the transit country. This way, we could avoid cargo ship jams given that the new harvest to be transported is now underway. And to avoid cargo queuing several kilometers, this would greatly simplify the delivery of Ukrainian products,” he explained.  

Denys Marchuk also noted that alternative routes are indeed becoming a source of export opportunities in today’s environment. However, he added, Ukraine and its partners are doing everything possible to continue the grain initiative.

“With or without Russia, but nevertheless, access to the Black Sea must be provided,” he added.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news