Ukraine can use new Black Sea route for grain shipments: producers

KIEV, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Ukraine is considering using its recently tested wartime Black Sea export corridor for grain shipments after the first successful evacuation of a ship along the route last week, the Monday a senior agricultural official.

Russia has blocked Ukrainian ports since it invaded its neighbor in February 2022 and threatened to treat all ships as potential military targets after pulling out last month of a UN-backed safe passage deal for grain exports from the Black Sea.

In response, Ukraine announced a “humanitarian corridor” hugging the western Black Sea coast, close to Romania and Bulgaria. A Hong Kong-flagged container ship stuck in the port of Odessa since the invasion traveled the route last week without being shot.

“Only one commercial ship has passed so far, (and this one) has proven ready to move along alternative routes,” Denys Marchuk, deputy head of the Agrarian Council, Ukraine’s largest agribusiness group, told national television.

“In addition, there should be a movement of potentially 7 or 8 more ships… so perhaps in the future these alternative routes will become a corridor for the movement of ships traveling with cargoes of grains and oilseeds,” he said.

The British newspaper Financial Times said that kyiv was finalizing a scheme with global insurers to cover grain ships traveling to and from its Black Sea ports, citing Ukraine’s Deputy Economy Minister Oleksandr Gryban.

Ukraine is a major global producer and exporter of grains and typically ships millions of metric tons of food from its deep-water Black Sea ports of Odessa and Mykolaiv.

But Ukraine has had to rely on its Danube river delta ports in the country’s southwestern corner since Russia abandoned its side of the year-long safe passage agreement.

To lure shipowners to Ukrainian ports that have been attacked by Russian forces, Marchuk said Ukraine had already allocated 20 billion hryvnias ($547 million) for ship insurance.

However, Mykola Gorbachev, head of the Ukrainian union of grain traders UGA, said that despite the compensation mechanism for potential losses, he doubted many shipowners would be ready to navigate the temporary corridors.

“In particular, it takes at least two to three days to load a ship in the ports of Greater Odessa. If during this time the port infrastructure is attacked again by enemy attacks, there is a risk of damage to the ships and cargo.” , said. he said she in a statement.

Gorbachev said that it would be advisable to find a mechanism to ensure the safety of civilian ships in temporary corridors by providing, for example, military escorts.

“NATO ships will be able to respond to threats, including missile attacks against port infrastructure,” he said.

($1 = 36.5600 UAH)

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.