Nearly 24,000 wagons loaded mainly with wheat and oil are blocked at Ukraine’s borders with Poland, Hungary or Romania. Dsince the beginning of the war, 25 million tons of grain are waiting to leave the country. “It’s a challenge that is truly gigantic”, alerted Friday, May 13 on franceinfo Adalbert Jahnz, spokesperson for the European Commission for transport. These cereals, which correspond to half of what is stored in Ukraine, “must leave the country before the end of July, for food security reasons, economic reasons, but above all because the harvest is coming”, explains Adalbert Jahnz. He assures us that the European Commission is making every effort to “coordinate the different actors”as “a big puzzle”for “get as many of these grains and oilseeds out of Ukraine as possible in time”.
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franceinfo: What is the risk with the tons of wheat stuck in Ukraine?
Adalbert Jahnz: There are about 40 million tons of grain stored in Ukraine, of which about half must leave the country before the end of July, both for food security reasons, for economic reasons , but mostly because the harvest is coming. And so you have to free up storage space for the incoming grain. It is a challenge that is truly gigantic. There is the importance of Ukrainian cereals for food security in the world. To give you an idea of the volume this represents, a train 600 meters long can transport approximately 1,900 tonnes of cereals. When you have more than 20 million tonnes, it’s a challenge that is truly enormous.
Who is this wheat for?
75% of Ukrainian wheat is for export. It’s about a third for Europe, a third for China, a third for Africa. In Europe, it is something that affects the consumer. But obviously, in Europe, we don’t have a food safety problem as such. On the other hand, the situation is very different in Africa. So it’s a challenge that really needs to be taken up urgently. It is for this reason that we presented an action plan yesterday to set up what we called corridors or paths of solidarity, therefore a joint effort between the Commission and Ukraine, the authorities national authorities and, of course, transport operators to get as many of these grains and oilseeds out of Ukraine as possible on time.
Why is it complicated to get wheat out by rail?
There is an incompatibility between the Ukrainian rail and the rails used in Europe. It is a question of track gauge, therefore really a practical question, but which makes it essential to transship the cereals or oilseeds that we transport. Which is possible but long. It takes about two hours per wagon using the appropriate machinery. It is still necessary that there is enough equipment available. Alternatively, you can put the grain in containers and then just transport the containers. But there is pretty much the same question. And then, for transport in Europe, there is also the question of the slots available to be able to really route the trains. So it’s like a big puzzle, at European level and in collaboration with the Ukrainian authorities, that someone has to try to put together. It is this role that we propose to take on as the European Commission, a role of bringing together different players, whether authorities, operators or equipment suppliers, by setting up a logistics platform for relationship which will require all these different actors to coordinate with this overview that only we at European level can have.