Ukraine Says It Has Alternate options if Grain Export Deal Not Prolonged

KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine has other ways of transporting grain if a deal on protected Black Sea exports shouldn’t be prolonged on Could 18, and wouldn’t see that final result as an “apocalyptic state of affairs”, its agriculture minister mentioned.

Ukrainian Black Sea ports had been blockaded after Russia’s invasion final 12 months, however entry to 3 of them was cleared final July below a deal between Moscow and Kyiv that was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.

Moscow has threatened to stop the settlement on Could 18 except a listing of calls for is met to take away obstacles to Russia’s personal grain and fertiliser exports.

“We don’t envisage any apocalyptic state of affairs because of one million circumstances. Ukrainian farmers and Ukrainian merchants have proven that they will do loads, and quite a lot of (export) routes could be laid,” Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky was quoted by his ministry as saying late on Monday.

“There are a number of eventualities that will likely be concerned within the worst-case eventualities,” he mentioned, giving no extra particulars.

The United Nations mentioned on Monday that thus far almost 30 million metric tonnes of grain and foodstuffs had been exported from Ukraine below the Black Sea deal, together with almost 600,000 metric tonnes of grain in World Meals Programme vessels for support operations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Yemen.

Russia’s state-owned RIA information company quoted Russian Deputy International Minister Sergei Vershinin as saying a high-level four-way assembly on the Black Sea grain deal would happen in Istanbul on Could 10-11.

Ukraine additionally exports grain by way of Danube River ports and has mentioned beforehand that what is named the Danube Cluster gives a viable various export route.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Modifying by Timothy Heritage)

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