Taras Vysotskyi, Ukraine’s agriculture minister, travelled to Brussels to ask European counterparts for more capacity to move Ukrainian agricultural products through Europe and for 1.1 billion euros to cover additional transport costs.
His appeal comes after Russia imposed a de facto blockade through continuing attacks on Ukrainian ports and vessels for a third consecutive month.
Ukraine asked Poland and Romania to expand agricultural transit corridors and secure €1.1 billion in transport subsidies. Both countries rejected the request.
On 28 September, Vysotskyi said Ukraine was negotiating with Poland to increase rail capacity as it sought to deal with the export crisis.
As of mid-September, 278 grain wagons a day were being sent to Eastern Europe by land, including 65 bound for Poland.
Poland’s infrastructure ministry has no plans for changes intended to increase transit of Ukrainian agricultural products, its spokeswoman Anna Szumańska said.
Romania has pointed to the limits of its road, rail and port network, along with the interests of its farmers. Barna Tánczos, the Romanian agriculture minister, said surplus Ukrainian grain and low water levels on the Danube were already overloading the country’s ports and stopping Romanian farmers from selling their own produce.
Tánczos said Romania could not physically double either train numbers or the capacity of its transport infrastructure.
The Polish route had previously prompted large protests by Polish farmers, who said cheaper Ukrainian grain threatened domestic producers.
The remaining routes carry less than half of Ukraine’s export cargo by road, rail and river.
Moving grain through the Danube adds about $50 per tonne in logistics costs, making Ukrainian grain uncompetitive.
Ukraine is also considering Baltic Sea ports, according to an agriculture ministry statement. That route would add about $100 per tonne to export expenses and would require up to $2 billion in international support to offset the costs, the ministry said.
Vysotskyi warned that Ukrainian farmers would be unable to begin planting for the next season without financial assistance.
Up to 35 million metric tons of grain could be stranded in Ukraine by the end of the year if the blockade continues.
Vysotskyi said a situation unchanged until spring could cut planted acreage by 35–40%.
He had also warned that bombardment of ports could shrink next year’s sown area by up to 40%.
On 2 October, the FAO said global food prices had reached their highest level since November 2022.
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