After Russia's unilateral withdrawal from the grain deal, enemy missiles and drones destroyed 280 thousand tons of Ukrainian grain, the Financial Times reports. The UK government has information about this, ukrayina.pl reports.
Over the past two months, Moscow has launched a series of attacks on Ukraine's southern ports using drones. The invaders are seeking to destroy Ukraine's economic infrastructure and export routes created to break the Black Sea blockade.
Over the past 12 months, Ukraine, which produces half of the world's sunflower oil and 10% of its wheat exports, has exported about 35 million tons of grain across the Danube. Together with rail freight through Europe, this has provided a vital economic boost for Ukraine.
But it is unclear how long Ukrainian companies can absorb the additional costs of alternative routes. The grain deal allowed for the safe export of 33 million tons of Ukrainian grain.
Yevhen Osypo, executive director of Kernel, the world's leading and Ukraine's largest sunflower oil exporter, predicts that high costs will undermine Ukrainian grain production and cause exports to halve from last year's level to about 35 million tons in 2024.
Ukrainian farmers are increasingly unwilling to grow crops because they are simply losing money.
Viktor Berestenko, president of the Association of International Freight Forwarders, said that exporting 1 ton of grain to Egypt via the Danube costs about $116. Before the Russian invasion, it cost about $69.
But the Danube's capacity can be expanded.
"The advantage of the Danube is that there are many places to load and the infrastructure is distributed. This also means that Ukraine does not dance to Russia's tune," added Nibulon CEO Andriy Vadatursky.
As a reminder, on July 17, the Kremlin said that Russia refused to extend the grain deal. Before that, the Russians blocked ships heading to Ukrainian ports for loading.