Even with UN deal, Ukraine faces long haul to shift grain mountain
Too few ships are arriving in Ukraine to quickly clear mountains of grain built up over months of war despite a U.N.-backed sea corridor, threatening to drive up global food prices and leave the country's cash-strapped farmers struggling to plant crops. Qazet.az reports.
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday triggered fears that Russia could withdraw support for the sea corridor after he accused Kyiv of using it to export to the European Union and Turkey rather than poor nations that most need the food, particularly in Africa.
Even if the agreement holds, the dangers of sending ships into the heavily mined Black Sea, along with a lack of large vessels and the exclusion of a major port, means volumes transported are well below Ukraine's goal of doubling farm exports to at least 6 million tonnes by October.
"For the moment, we do not send our ships to Ukrainian ports because we don't believe it is safe," Alexander Saverys, chief executive of Belgian headquartered shipping group CMB, which shipped from Ukraine prior to the war, told Reuters.