Ukraine is discussing with its European partners the possibility of covering additional transport costs for exporting agricultural products via more distant EU ports.
This was reported by Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotskyi during an international conference in Bucharest, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
Because Russia has blocked Ukraine’s deep-water ports on the Black Sea, alternative routes allow only about 2.5 million tonnes of products to be shipped out per month, which is half of what is needed. Under these constraints, Ukraine risks losing the ability to export up to 30 million tonnes of agricultural products worth around $10bn.
One of the options under consideration is transport via ports in Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, Germany and other countries. However, this route increases logistics costs by €50–60 per tonne.
Vysotskyi said the Ukrainian side is negotiating the creation of special compensation programmes within the EU to cover these additional costs. This will help maintain supplies of agricultural products to traditional markets, including countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy stresses that unless logistics issues and farmers’ financing problems are resolved, up to 5 million hectares of agricultural land could be at risk of going unused during the next sowing campaign.