Ukraine's losses exceed $1 billion due to idle ships despite grain deal
Photo: Administration of the Pivdennyi Seaport

The losses suffered by Ukraine due to the downtime of ships in the queues of the grain corridor amounted to more than $1 billion, the president of the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) Mykola Horbachov said on the air of Freedom TV channel.

"This is the money that the Ukrainian agricultural producers did not receive. This is the money that the traders paid to the owners of the ships for the fact that the ships stood in the queue for a very long time," he explained.

At the moment, Russia does not accept Ukraine's plans and conditions regarding the formation of the order of ship inspections, which does not allow the port terminals to work rhythmically.

Although the grain corridor is a very effective channel for the supply of Ukrainian agricultural products abroad, only 50% of all exported agricultural products were sent to clients through it, the president of UGA noted. The other 50% was exported via alternative routes: along the Danube, by rail, and by road.

According to Horbachov's estimates, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Russian Federation has already stolen about 4 million tons of Ukrainian grain and is trying to sell it abroad. The main buyers are countries under sanctions. But it is becoming more and more difficult to trade in stolen goods from Russia.

"There have already been cases when even Libya refused to buy such grain," Horbachov said.

Russia is also attracting buyers of Ukrainian agricultural products. As an example, Horbachov cited Egypt, where the aggressor state has strengthened its positions.

"The buyers who buy this grain want a rhythmic supply. The thing is, when they buy wheat, they buy it for a mill that already has a customer – someone who will bake bread from it. And if we don't know when that ship will come – after 20 or 40 days, the buyer chooses a more rhythmic and reliable supplier," he explained.

In early May, Russia completely blocked all incoming grain carriers and threatened to withdraw from the grain initiative on May 18.

Inspections resumed only after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Russia had been persuaded not to withdraw from the deal.

On May 21, it was reported that Russia has been blocking the incoming fleet of the Port of Pivdennyi for almost a month.

Grain dealgrain corridorUkrainian grainUGAMykola Horbachov