The head of the Odessa regional military administration Oleg Kiper in August 2023 by his order strengthened customs control in the region when exporting agricultural products for export, at the same time on the market of export of agricultural products appeared about 40 companies with signs of fictitiousness, reported hromadske in the investigation “Grain Baron”.
The publication noted that through the ports of Odessa in 2023 passed 85 percent of the country’s agro-exports.
When analyzing the data of the Ukrainian customs, access to which is provided by the international service ImportGenius, journalists found 40 companies with signs of fictitiousness, which entered the agro export market after the Odessa OSA established “manual control” over it.
These companies started exporting grain after August 2023. They have never engaged in exports before, were founded or changed owners in 2023, are not part of well-known agroholdings and do not own land.
“The largest by export volume of these firms has the same phone number as another 139 legal entities. And in second place is a company whose founder is probably a psychologist from Uzbekistan, for whom 20 legal entities have been registered in Ukraine over the past two years,” the investigation said.
“Suspicious” companies for the last quarter of 2023 exported through the ports of the Odessa region about 800 thousand tons of agricultural products worth about $ 150 million, or 6 billion UAH, says the publication and recalls that the head of the Odessa Regional State Administration explained the establishment of manual control by the need to fight against one-day companies and so-called “black exports”.
Such one-day companies export grain and do not return foreign currency proceeds to the country, do not pay taxes, have a fake director and do not have an office. After several transactions with a budget of several million dollars, the company disappears.
The chairman of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Union “Agrarnaya Rada” Dmytro Kohan drew attention to the fact that any manual control has increased risks of corruption.
The Odessa regional military administration refused to comment on the facts revealed by journalists.
Shipment of agricultural products from the Chornomorsk seaport (Odesa region), whose infrastructure was severely damaged by a Russian missile attack last week, is gradually resuming, Spike Brokers brokerage company reported in a telegram channel.
The brokers noted that in 2023, the share of the Chornomorsk port in the structure of export shipments by water transport was 36%, while the Danube ports accounted for 32%, the Odesa port – 17%, and the Pivdenny port – 15%.
“Over the past week, freight rates for the transportation of corn by ‘coaster’ to the east coast of Italy decreased by $3, to Spain and Israel – by $2. The freight for the transportation of grain by panamaxes from the deep-water ports of Odesa to China and Vietnam decreased by $4,” the experts noted.
As of April 22, the rates for transportation from the port of Chornomorsk to Italy (east coast) amounted to $29-30 (30-35 thousand tons), Spain (Mediterranean) – $30-32 (30-35 thousand tons), Vietnam – $52-54 (60-65 thousand tons), China – $54-56 (60-65 thousand tons).
At the same time, the market rates for transportation by freight from the port of Izmail to the port of Constanta (Romania) as of the specified date are EUR18-22 (4.5-5 thousand tons), to the ports of the Mediterranean coast of Spain – $35-37 (30-35 thousand tons). The rates of transportation from the port of Reni to the ports of Israel range from $33-35 (30-35 thsd tonnes), Spike Brokers stated.
According to a grain market source, who wished to remain anonymous, such a restriction could lead to temporary disruptions in the delivery of products to the terminals of Kernel, Risoil and Viterra groups. In addition, the shutdown of grain terminals could lead to a reduction in April exports of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea grain corridor to 5 million tons, compared to the expected 8 million tons.
As reported, on April 10, the Russian occupiers damaged railroad sidings to a number of grain terminals located in the port of Chornomorsk during the morning shelling of Odesa region. This resulted in temporary disruptions in the delivery of products to the terminals of Kernel, Risoil and Viterra.
“On the day of the shelling, Ukrzaliznytsia introduced a convention on freight transportation that was to be in effect until April 13, and then extended twice – first until April 17, then until April 22, after which it was lifted.
In January-March 2024, Ukrzaliznytsia JSC (UZ) increased export transportation to ports by 2.4 times compared to the same period in 2023 – up to 15.347 million tons, while reducing the volume of transportation through land crossings in export traffic by 11.9% to 8.041 million tons, according to an analytical note of the company following the meeting of the Exporters’ Office.
In total, Ukrzaliznytsia transported 44.69 million tons of cargo in the first quarter of this year, which is 28.7% more than in the first quarter of 2023. Export transportation accounted for 52.3%, or 23.9 million tons, up 50.6% year-on-year.
In January-March, the company’s export transportation volume of iron and manganese ore increased 2.4 times year-on-year to 9.89 million tons, grain cargo – by 18.4% to 9.9 million tons, and ferrous metals – by 13% to 1.19 million tons.
In addition, the volume of vegetable oil transportation in export traffic in January-March increased by 7.5% to 424.2 thousand tons, construction materials – by 1.8 times to 545 thousand tons, cement – by 49.2% to 277.8 thousand tons.
Earlier, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Vice Prime Minister for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure (Ministry of Reconstruction), said that in March 2024, Ukrzaliznytsia transported 16 million tons of cargo in all directions, which is a third more than in March 2023 and 10% more than the record figures for February 2024, when the volume of traffic reached 14.5 million tons.
In 2023, the ports of the Danube Cluster almost doubled their cargo turnover to 32 million tons.
As the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) reported on Facebook on Wednesday, 14,031 thousand vessels were received and dispatched during this period,
Izmail port received/dispatched 9,324 thousand vessels, handling 20.26 million tons of cargo. The port of Reni handled 3,858 thousand vessels and 10.07 million tons of cargo, and the port of Ust-Dunaisk handled 849 vessels and 1.68 million tons of cargo.
Last year, the volume of grain transshipment in the ports of the Danube cluster almost doubled to 20 million tons (10.3 million tons in 2022). Also, the volume of transshipment of liquid bulk cargo increased significantly – 5.3 million tons (2.3 million tons), ferrous metals – 1.7 million tons (0.8 million tons), construction materials – 0.5 million tons (0.3 million tons), containers – 67,667 thousand TEU (9,321 thousand TEU). The volume of ore transshipment slightly decreased to 1.9 million tons (2.1 million tons).
Earlier it was reported that the cargo turnover of the seaports of the Danube region in January-November 2023 reached 29.4 million tons, which is more than twice the figure for the same period in 2022 (14.5 million tons).
The volume of transshipment in the ports of the Danube cluster in 2022 amounted to 16.49 million tons: 8.89 million tons at the port of Izmail, 6.82 million tons at the port of Reni and 0.785 thousand tons at the port of Ust-Dunaisk.
In 2023, Ukraine’s ports handled 62 million tons, including 56.3 million tons for export, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) reported on Facebook on Wednesday.
According to the administration, imports amounted to 5.3 million tons. At the same time, the Ukrainian sea corridor has already exported 18 million tons of cargo to 32 countries, 12.7 million tons of which are agricultural products.
“By the end of 2023, about 62 million tons of cargo were transshipped by Ukrainian ports in wartime. Among the leaders in terms of cargo nomenclature are grains – 45.5 million tons and liquid bulk – 6.3 million tons. An undoubted achievement of 2023 was the launch of the temporary sea corridor announced by the Ukrainian Navy, which made it possible to unblock the ports of Greater Odesa. On August 16, 2023, the first vessel used the temporary corridor. According to the results of 2023, 400 vessels exported 12.8 million tons of cargo,” the statement said.
Last year, the Danube ports transshipped 32 million tons of cargo, which exceeds the record figures of 2022, the USPA said in a statement.
The cargo turnover of the port of Izmail more than doubled and reached 20.2 million tons (in 2022 – 8.8 million tons). The cargo turnover of the port of Reni reached 10 million tons (6.8 million tons), and that of the port of Ust-Dunaisk – 1.7 million tons (785 thousand tons).
The cargo turnover of the port of Odesa also increased and reached 8.41 million tons (7.69 million tons in 2022), while the cargo turnover of the port of Pivdennyi decreased to 10.08 million tons (15.28 million tons), and the port of Chornomorsk – 11.41 million tons (11.76 million tons).
“I am very grateful to the business, the team of the Ministry of Development (Communities, Infrastructure Territories) and the employees of USPA for effective cooperation, which has led to a number of technical and technological measures: 23 transshipment points have been launched and 15 investment projects are being implemented, which all helped to achieve such record-breaking results. Despite the fact that a lot has already been done, in 2024 we will continue to work together to further increase cargo turnover and improve the work of the Danube cluster ports,” Yuriy Lytvyn, Head of USPA, was quoted as saying in the statement.
Earlier it was reported that the new Ukrainian sea corridor created by the Ukrainian Navy in August 2023 ensured the export of almost 15 million tons of products, including 10 million tons of agricultural products.
Agroprosperis agricultural group has supplied 17 thousand tons of agricultural products to Italy and Spain through the ports of Croatia since the beginning of 2023, the press service of the agricultural holding reported.
“In the first weeks of September of this year, Ukrainian and world media were abuzz with the news that Ukraine started exporting grain through the seaports of Croatia. “Agroprosperis is among the domestic exporters who were the first to use this route this year. It has become an important step in the expansion of Ukrainian agro-logistics against the background of the aggressor’s blockade of the grain corridor from the deep-water ports of the Black Sea,” the company’s website reported.
The agroholding noted that it was familiar with this export channel and had used it in previous years. During 2021-2022, the agroholding shipped 4,000 tons of GMO-free soybeans to Italy through Croatian ports for export. Since the beginning of the 2023-2024 marketing year, 6 thousand tons of corn were shipped to Italy and 11 thousand tons of wheat to Spain.
Currently, Agroprosperis is implementing a program of accumulation of wheat and soybeans for customers in Egypt and Europe.
According to the report, the structural subdivisions of the agroholding continue production of agricultural products and their export through alternative logistic routes. Agroprosperis noted the selfless work of its subdivisions in Sumy and Chernihiv regions, which grow, take care of crops and harvest crops under shelling.
In addition, the Agroprosperis Charitable Foundation is also active, providing direct assistance to 2,400 war victims totaling more than UAH 30 million.
Before the Russian military invasion, Agroprosperis had a land bank of 430 thousand hectares and total storage capacity of 800 thousand tons of crops. The holding grew and exported more than 2 million tons of grain and oilseeds per year.
“Agroprosperis operates through five divisions: Golden Sunrise (Agro), Bio Agro, Ray Agro, Latagro, New Agro Management, and provides financing to Ukrainian grain producers through Agroprosperis Bank.
