In September, Ukraine exported 4.2 million tons of agricultural products via “solidarity corridors”

In September, the volume of agricultural goods exported from Ukraine through the EU’s “solidarity corridors” amounted to 4.2 million tons. This was announced today in Brussels during a briefing by the European Commission spokesperson Stefan de Keersmaeker.

“This work continues. “The Solidarity Corridors remain an absolutely essential element to facilitate the transportation of these goods… Since May 2022, 102 million tons have been exported (from Ukraine – ed.), of which 56 million tons are agricultural products. We have figures for September: 4.2 million tons of agricultural exports,” he said.

In turn, the European Commission’s spokesperson for Agriculture and Trade, Olof Gill, did not name the date of the next meeting of the Coordination Platform to address the problem of agricultural exports from Ukraine to five neighboring EU countries – Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania – and did not comment on the state of negotiations with the governments of Poland and Hungary, which continue to ban Ukrainian agricultural exports to their own markets.

“At the moment, the position remains unchanged. Ukraine continues to implement its action plan to address the problems that arose in the summer. We expect this to provide more sustainable solutions in the medium and longer term. As for the two countries, there is no additional information at this time. A new government is being formed in Poland. Our contacts with all member states continue. This will be discussed during the next meeting of the Coordination Platform, which will take place soon,” said Hill.

As reported, in May 2022, the EU launched “solidarity corridors” on its borders with Ukraine, which allowed Ukraine to continue its grain exports to the world market in the face of Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports. In July of this year, Russia suspended its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was launched through the efforts of the UN and Turkey, leaving the EU’s “solidarity corridors” through Europe’s land and inland waterways as almost the only way for Ukraine to continue export and import operations.

In May 2023, the European Commission banned imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania at the insistence of these countries. On June 5, the ban was extended until September 15, 2023. After that date, the European Commission announced that the EU would not extend the temporary restrictions on Ukrainian grain exports to the five neighboring countries. Poland and Hungary announced their intention to further block imports of Ukrainian agricultural products.

Tags: solidarity corridors, Ukraine, export, grain, EU