UGA asks the European Comission to create “green corridors” for Ukrainian grain

The Ukrainian Grain Association officially appealed to Mr. Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President, Trade Commissioner of the European Commission, regarding the optimization of alternative routes, the so-called Solidarity Lanes, for the export of grain from Ukraine to European ports with subsequent shipment to third countries.

In particular, UGA proposed to the European Commission to increase exports through the Solidarity Lanes by 1-1.5 million per month by compensating part of the costs of European carriers and ports that transit Ukrainian grain. This will lead to a significant reduction in the cost of grain transportation and will enable Ukrainian farmers to profitably export grain surplus to countries that need Ukrainian grain and stabilize global food security.

We will remind that in 2022, Ukraine harvested more than 73 million tons of grain and oilseed crops, and exports in the 2022/2023 season amounted to about 58 million tons. Over 29 million tons of grain and oilseeds were exported through Ukrainian Black Sea ports under the Grain Initiative, a little more than 15 million tons – through Danube ports, and about 14 million tons – by railway and trucks. After all, this year Ukrainian producers can harvest about 69 million tons of grain and oilseed crops, the expected export volume in the 2023/2024 marketing year can be about 45 million tons. Of course, additionally Ukraine also exports oil and meal – about 9-10 million tons per year.

Due to the disruption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative by the russian federation, we have faced an urgent necessity to increase additionally the capacity of the Solidarity Lanes for approximately 1-1.5 million tons of grain per month. This can be done by exporting grain through the ports of the Baltic States (Klaipeda and others), Germany (Rostock, Hamburg), the Netherlands (Rotterdam), Croatia (Rijeka), Italy (Trieste) and Slovenia (Koper).

It is worth noting that these routes are not used much due to the complexity and cost of logistics compared to other routes. The price difference is approximately 30-40 euros per ton.

Therefore, UGA asks the EU to introduce “green corridors” for Ukrainian agricultural products to the seaports of the Baltic countries, Germany, the Netherlands, Croatia, Italy and Slovenia, which will include:

1) the transfer of sanitary, phytosanitary and veterinary control from checkpoints on the border with Ukraine to the territory of the country of destination, which will ensure a significant increase in exports;

2) introduction of subsidies from the European Commission to compensate European carriers for additional logistics costs for transit transportation and partial compensation for European ports – the so-called port costs for Ukrainian grain.

Tags: blocking ports, Ukraine, export, grain, UGA