President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that the implementation of the grain initiative to export Ukrainian grain made it possible to reduce the severity of the food crisis.
“It is very important that the grain export initiative yields results. Since the beginning of its implementation, 16 vessels with grain for seven countries on three continents have already left Ukrainian ports. This is Europe, Asia, Africa,” he said in a traditional video message on Saturday.
According to him, “almost half a million tons of agricultural products are on board: corn, wheat, sunflower oil, soybeans and other goods that are absolutely necessary on the world market.”
“This has already made it possible to reduce the acuteness of the food crisis, gave some hope for peace to the countries that consume our agricultural products. And in the future, it can help to completely remove the food crisis from the global agenda,” he said.
Of course, the president noted, “if the partners ensure the implementation of the safe part of the initiative and prevent Russian provocations and terror at sea or against our ports.”
Zelensky noted that “the first ship has already arrived for loading under the UN World Food Program – this is the supply of grain, in particular, for Ethiopia, where the situation with hunger is especially severe. Now the vessel is being prepared for departure from the Yuzhny port.
According to him, “in less than two weeks, our three ports – Odessa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny – managed to export such a volume that is equal to all agricultural exports by road in July and more than two-thirds of exports by rail over the past month” .
“These are jobs for our people, these are the funds that are needed for our sowing next year, and this is our state budget revenues. Increasing economic activity is an indispensable element on the path to victory,” the president said.
Uncertainty with the export of Ukrainian grain, leading to a global food crisis and rising food prices, can be resolved by buying last year’s and this year’s crops from Ukraine for a total of $30-35 billion through a specially created fund.
This will contribute to the development of exports from the country and its internal processing in the agro-industrial complex, as well as provide the Ukrainian agricultural sector with working capital and the opportunity to continue working under the conditions of the military invasion of the Russian Federation, MP of Ukraine Dmytro Solomchuk (the Servant of the People faction) wrote on his Telegram channel on Wednesday.
“The easiest way, given the current situation, is to create the World Food Fund, collect $30-35 billion, and transfer it to Ukrainian farmers, buying last year’s and fresh products at world prices, minus logistics, on the terms of responsible storage,” he wrote.
“The world, in turn, thanks to this, will stabilize inflation, calm the beginnings of a food storm, will be motivated to organize comfortable exports, and Ukrainian farmers will receive funds for winter sowing, which will save the world in 2023, and the development of a processed industry to simplify logistics. And most importantly, the Russian Federation will stop manipulating food security,” the MP added.
As reported, on June 28, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved a draft agreement with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) on the resumption of its office in the country, which will allow the organization, among other things, to purchase agricultural products from Ukrainian companies to carry out international humanitarian programs.
The main topics in the contacts of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with the leaders of other countries remain defense and financial support of the state, blocking of Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea, the threat of a food crisis, Presidential Press Secretary Sergei Nikiforov said.
“The list of issues is the same. There is an urgent issue – blocking our ports in the Black Sea. There is a threat of a general food crisis and a food crisis in certain regions of different countries, because Ukraine is a supplier of agricultural products for many markets. And now because of violations of supply chains and supply chains, such a threat exists,” Nikiforov said on the air of the national telethon on Sunday.
Also, according to him, topical issues are financial support for the Ukrainian economy in the conditions of war, sanctions against the Russian Federation and defense support.
“With some of the leaders, certain issues come to the fore, with others – in the background. It depends on the country and each specific situation,” he said.
