WEB DESK
Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister Dmytro Senik yesterday said the country has established two routes through Poland and Romania to export grain and avert a global food crisis although bottlenecks have slowed the supply chain.
He further added global food security was at risk because Russia’s military action in Ukraine had halted Kyiv’s Black Sea grain exports, causing widespread shortages and soaring prices.
Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest grain exporter.
There are some 30 million tonnes of grain stored in Ukrainian-held territory out of capacity of around 55 million tonnes, the country told an International Grains Council IGC conference in London, adding there were 13-15 million tonnes of storage capacity in Russian-occupied areas.
Without access to its Black Sea ports, Ukraine would at best be able to export 20 million tonnes of grains next year, it said, adding these would likely be more sunflower seeds than corn and wheat.