Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said the next ships with Ukrainian grain are loaded and ready to depart.
“Next ships with Ukrainian grain are loaded and ready to depart. If Russia holds to its commitments under the UN-brokered grain initiative, they will reach foreign customers and help tame food prices and avert hunger. Ukraine remains committed to combating global food insecurity,” Kuleba said on Twitter on Thursday night.
The forecast for the harvest of grain and oilseeds in Ukraine this season has been improved by approximately 5-7 million tons – up to 65-67 million tons from 60 million tons, according to the website of the government portal on Wednesday.
It is specified that the increase in the harvest forecast was announced by the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solsky during a conference call between Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and the heads of regions.
In turn, the Prime Minister noted that in the context of the Russian military invasion in Ukraine, 12 million tons of new crop grain have already been harvested from a total area of 3.5 million hectares.
Shmyhal also announced the emergence of additional opportunities for grain exports due to the unblocking of the Odessa seaport under the Istanbul Agreement on the export of agricultural products from Ukraine, concluded on July 22 under the auspices of the UN.
“In total, in June we exported 3.2 million tons out of 5 million tons (pre-war monthly volumes – IF-U) that were required. Exports are gradually growing both by rail, by road, and through the Danube ports. Sea ports will significantly expand these opportunities and farmers will receive new opportunities for the sale of products. The state is doing everything necessary for this,” the Prime Minister’s government portal quotes.
Shmygal also noted the recently introduced grant program for the development of horticulture, greenhouses, the development of processing and micro-enterprises, under which over 5,000 applications have already been submitted and processed, and this week the first applicants will receive state support.
As reported, the US Department of Agriculture in the July report predicts the harvest of Ukrainian wheat in the 2022/2023 marketing year (MY, July-June) at the level of 19.5 million tons, its export – 10 million tons, domestic consumption within the country – 10.2 million tons . The corn harvest is estimated at 25 million tons, export – 9 million tons, domestic consumption – 10.7 million tons.
In early July, the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) increased the forecast for the harvest of grains and oilseeds in Ukraine in 2022 by 4.4% compared to the May forecast, to 69.4 million tons from 66.5 million tons.
According to her forecasts, in 2022 the wheat harvest is expected at the level of 20.8 million tons (+8.3% to the organization’s May forecast); 27.3 million tons of corn (+4.6%); 6.6 million tons of barley (forecast kept); 9 million tons of sunflower (forecast kept); 2.2 million tons of soybeans (+4.7%); 1.5 million tons of rapeseed (+13.3%).
The Ministry of Infrastructure announced the departure of the first ship with 26,000 tons of Ukrainian corn from the sea trade port “Odessa”.
“The first ship with Ukrainian food left the port of Odessa,” Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov wrote on his Facebook page.
Earlier, People’s Deputy of Ukraine (European Solidarity faction) Oleksiy Goncharenko in his telegram channel said that the first caravan of 16 dry cargo ships with grain from Ukraine would arrive in Turkey on August 3 this year.
As reported, on July 29, the ambassadors of the G7 countries in Ukraine arrived in Odessa to check the launch of the “grain corridor”.
On July 22, under the auspices of the UN, Ukraine and Turkey signed an agreement in Istanbul on the resumption of the safe export of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea.
On the morning of July 23, Russian invaders attacked the Odessa Commercial Sea Port with Caliber cruise missiles. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that the Russian Federation, with a missile attack on the port, questioned the agreements it had given to the UN and Turkey in the “grain” agreement. The UN chief unequivocally condemned reports of air strikes on Odessa, citing the commitments made by the parties at the signing ceremony in Istanbul.
Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Sunday that the first ship with grain on board could leave the Black Sea ports of Ukraine on Monday.
“Negotiations are ongoing. There is a possibility that the first ship will set off tomorrow morning,” Turkish TV channel TRT Haber quotes him as saying.
In Istanbul on July 22, with the participation of the UN, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, two documents were signed on the creation of a corridor for the export of grain from three Black Sea ports – Chernomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhny.
The first ships with Ukrainian grain are being loaded in the ports of the Odessa region, which have been blocked in Ukrainian waters since the beginning of the war, said Deputy Head of the President’s Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko.
“There are 17 ships in the ports with almost 600,000 tons of cargo. Of these, 16 ships with Ukrainian grain with a total tonnage of about 580,000 tons, which will soon leave for ports of destination,” he wrote on his Telegram channel on Friday.
Tymoshenko also stressed that as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation on the territory of the Odessa region, 416 buildings and structures were destroyed or partially damaged.
As reported, on July 29, the ambassadors of the G7 countries in Ukraine arrived in Odessa to check the launch of the grain corridor.
On July 22, under the auspices of the UN, Ukraine and Turkey signed an agreement in Istanbul on the resumption of the safe export of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky discussed with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte issues of defense cooperation between the two countries, the export of agricultural products through Ukrainian ports, as well as financial support for Ukraine by the European Union.
“I maintain continued contact with our partners. Discussed the course of hostilities, Ukraine- Netherlands defense cooperation and financial support from the EU with Mark Rutte. Emphasized the importance of exporting Ukrainian grain by sea ASAP,” Zelensky said on Twitter on Thursday evening.
