The EU is working on the creation of solidarity lines for the export of grain from Ukraine, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has said.
She has said that 20 million tonnes of wheat are stuck in Ukraine and must be taken out. Therefore, they have created and are working hard on solidarity lines that will make it possible to take out batches of this wheat through land routes and trains to their ports. This is not trivial and, of course, more tiring and more expensive, but it is necessary to take this grain out, von der Leyen said at a press conference following the Special Meeting of the European Council in Brussels on Tuesday.
The UK is working with international partners to find ways to resume grain exports from Ukraine, a Downing Street spokesperson said on Saturday.
According to The Guardian, according to her, the UK was involved in “intensive work … with international partners to find ways to resume the export of grain from Ukraine to avert a global food crisis.”
Prime Minister of the UK Boris Johnson had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and told him that London would work with G7 partners to ” push for urgent progress” on the issue.
During the conversation, they also agreed on the next steps to ensure “safe shipping lanes.”
The value of Ukrainian agricultural exports for the two months of the war with Russia (March-April) amounted to $ 1.74 billion, while in January-February the supply of such products brought 3.2 times more revenue – $ 5.68 billion, for January-April the country exported $ 7.42 billion worth of agricultural products
The key commodity groups in agricultural exports from Ukraine are traditionally cereals and oilseeds, vegetable oils and fats, waste from the processing industry and meat products, according to the website of the Institute of Agrarian Economics (IAE) on Monday.
According to the agency, agricultural products continue to be the main source of foreign exchange earnings for Ukraine’s foreign trade: in January-April 2022, its share in total exports exceeded 44%.
Despite the Russian military invasion, exports of agricultural products from Ukraine in January-April 2022 still exceed the figures for the first four months of 2021 by 3%, this excess is due to significant intensity of exports in January-February 2022 and a record harvest of 2021, the largest since the country’s independence.
“Today Ukraine still exceeds last year’s record food exports. However, Russia’s ongoing aggression, hostilities, occupation of territories in different regions of our country and blocking of seaports significantly reduce domestic foreign sales potential. Final export figures will depend on liquidity. , – quotes IAE deputy director of the institution Nikolai Pugachev.
It was reported that before the Russian military invasion, Ukraine exported up to 5 million tons of agricultural products per month through the ports of Odessa and Nikolaev, but now due to their naval blockade by Russia, the country can transport about 500 thousand per month. tons of grain. This leads to a monthly shortfall of about $ 1.5 billion in export earnings.
Since the beginning of the 2021/2022 marketing year (MY, July-June) and as of May 19, Ukraine has exported 46.51 million tons of cereals and legumes, which is 13.8% higher than on the same date of the previous MY. A total of 18.54 million tons of wheat was exported to foreign markets (18.7% more than in the same period of 2020 / 2021MG), 21.83 million tons of corn (+ 6.9%), 5.68 million tons of barley (+ 37.2%), 70.6 thousand tons of flour (-35.7%).
22 million tons of food have been blocked in Ukrainian ports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in Kyiv on Saturday after meeting with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa.
“Russia has blocked all maritime opportunities to export food products – our grain, barley, sunflower. 22 million tons have been blocked by the Russian Federation, “he said.
“And, to be honest, they are stealing slowly. Grain is taken out of ports and somewhere. We know what “somewhere” is, “Zelensky said.
According to him, Ukraine “works at the level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the level of conscience, it is impossible to work with these countries, so we work differently. ”
Zelensky noted that “it can be unblocked in different ways. One of them is military. That is why we are asking our partners for such requests for appropriate weapons, and Portugal is no exception. “
In January-April 2022, Ukraine increased its revenue from electricity exports by 2.6 times (by $87.11 million) compared to the same period in 2021, to $141.05 million, according to the State Customs Service.
According to Interfax-Ukraine estimates, over the four months, electricity was supplied to Slovakia for $48.968 million, Hungary – for $40.408 million, Romania – for $29.274 million, other countries – for $22.4 million.
In April this year, electricity export revenue amounted to $1.108 million compared to $31.125 million in April 2021.
In addition, Ukraine in January-April 2022 imported electricity for $102.114 million against $54.321 million for the same period in 2021, in particular from Belarus – for $100.414 million, Slovakia – for $873,000, Romania – for $491,000, other countries – for $336,000.
In April this year, Ukraine imported electricity for $1,000 against $6.926 million in April 2021.
Ukraine in January-April this year increased the export of ferroalloys in physical terms by 7.2% compared to the same period last year – up to 220.206 thousand tons.
According to statistics published by the State Customs Service (STS), in monetary terms, exports of ferroalloys increased by 58.5% to $390.861 million.
At the same time, the main exports were to Poland (60.98% of supplies in monetary terms), Italy (6.67%) and the Netherlands (6.53%).
In addition, during this period, Ukraine imported 13.461 thousand tons of these products, which is 27.4% less compared to January-April 2021. In monetary terms, imports increased by 7.3% to $46.381 million.
Import was carried out mainly from Norway (35.43%), Brazil (15.44%) and Kazakhstan (13.32%).
As reported, Ukraine in 2021 increased the export of ferroalloys in physical terms by 6.9% compared to 2020 – up to 668.539 thousand tons, in monetary terms, the export of ferroalloys increased by 58.2% – up to $1 billion 43.880 million. the main exports were to Turkey (19.87% of supplies in monetary terms), Italy (13.51%) and China (11.28%).
In addition, in 2021 Ukraine imported 59.569 thousand tons of these products, which is 75.6% more by 2020. In monetary terms, imports increased by 84.5% – up to $177.616 million. Imports were carried out mainly from Brazil (16.93%), Norway (15.72%) and Kazakhstan (15.1%).
The business of the Stakhanov and Zaporozhye Ferroalloy Plants (SZF and ZZF) was organized by PrivatBank (Kyiv) before the financial institution was nationalized. The Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant is controlled by the EastOne group, created in the fall of 2007 as a result of the restructuring of the Interpipe group, as well as the Privat group.
