despite the queues of trucks and the days of waiting, the ports of the Danube have become emergency exits for exporting cereals

“Russia’s game is to starve the world.” The head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns – once again – to the G20 the naval blockade of its ports. Ukraine has, despite everything, managed to increase its grain exports by 25% in June 2022, mainly thanks to ports located along the Danube. Because the river is today the emergency exit. Its three ports: Reni, Izmaïl and Kiliia (Oust-Dounaitsk) now represent more than half of cereal exports.

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In Réni, there are thousands of trucks and as many drivers waiting several days, even weeks, to unload their goods. Yuri’s truck is filled with 24 tons of soybeans. This 45-year-old man comes from the Sumy region, a city in the north of the country located more than 15 hours away. He has no idea how long he will have to wait and explains that it depends on the type of grain. In this case for soybeans, the other drivers told him that he would surely have to wait a month to unload his truck.

A few meters away, another Yuri comes from the town of Chernomorsk near Odessa. In his trailer: corn. “I’ve been here for five days and I think I’m going to have to wait another two or three days minimumexplains Yuri. So yes, it’s not really comfortable, but we have no choice, we have to help our country to export this grain for Ukraine, but also to avoid famine in other countries.”

The Ukrainians are redoubling their efforts to find solutions with “logistics soldiers”, as Dmitro Barinov, head of the network of Ukrainian ports, says, but all this has a price: “Before, for example, to transport grains from Soumi to Reni, it cost for example 1,000 dollars and now it’s 1,500! Because we have to cover this waiting time and that partly explains the constant inflation grain prices. Dmitro Barinov explains that these Danube ports now export three times more grain than in February, but that is not enough to compensate for the closure of the Black Sea ports.

“It’s a very dangerous situation: not only for Ukraine, but for the world. Many countries depend on our exports. Russia knows this very well and continues this blackmail.”

Dmitro Barinov, Head of Ukrainian Ports Network

at franceinfo

Once the trucks have unloaded their goods, there are then two ways to export. First of all, by sea vessels that go to the Black Sea through the Sulina Channel. But these boats are small because of the 7m depth of the channel. Second option: by the river barges which load the cereals in these three ports, and which then go from the Danube to Constanza in Romania, where enormous ships then load up to 50,000 tonnes of cereals.

Moscow says it will allow Ukrainian ships loaded with food products to set sail if the Ukrainian army demines its ports, which kyiv, which fears for the safety of its coasts, refuses to consider. Before the warUkraine exported 20 million tons of wheat and 27.5 million tons of corn annually, according to a report by the US Department of Agriculture.