Ukrainian Ships Set Anti-Record In “Grain Corridor” Due To Russia

Russian inspectors are artificially blocking the operation of the “grain corridor”, due to which the number of exits of Ukrainian vessels from ports has fallen to anti-record levels. This was stated in the report of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food.

The Ministry indicates that during January, the number of ships departing from Ukrainian ports was 2-3 ships per day, at the level of 2.7, which was considered one of the lowest indicators for all months of the existence of the “grain initiative”.

"It is due to the artificial blocking of the grain corridor by Russian inspectors. However, in recent days, as of the end of January, the situation has worsened and the daily number of vessels has dropped to 2.5. This is an anti-record indicator," the report said.

Despite such difficulties, the average tonnage of shipments per vessel in January remained at the level of 37,000 tons, which is the best indicator during the time of operation of the Corridor, but the total number of shipments in January was not positively affected. The Ministry of Agrarian Policy notes that only 2.4 million tons of grain were exported in the first month of the new year, while in September and October it was more than 4 million tons. In total, Ukraine has already sent 675 vessels with a cargo of 18.4 million tons as part of the “grain initiative”.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on January 10, the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development announced that Russia was blocking the operation of the “grain corridor”.

On November 17, the Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov announced that the Initiative for safe transportation of agricultural products across the Black Sea was extended for another 120 days.

On August 5, the first caravan with Ukrainian grain left the sea ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk.