Miller Magazine Issue: 150 June 2022

86 ARTICLE MILLER / JUNE 2022 THE EXPORT OF UKRAINIAN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS In the pre-war period, Ukraine exported up to 90 million tons of ag- ricultural products per year. In Asian countries - 49.1% ($ 13.7 billion), the European Union - 30.1% ($ 8.4 billion); African countries - 13.3% ($ 3.7 bil- lion); countries of the former USSR (except the Baltics) - 5% ($ 1.4 billion). Ukraine was the world's 1st largest exporter of sunflower oil, 2nd largest exporter of grain, 3rd largest seller of barley, 4th largest seller of corn, and 5th largest exporter of wheat. Leader in the production of nuts, canola, peas, millet, wheat flour, honey and other agricultural products. It was one of the top 10 largest meat exporters in the world. The war in Ukraine has already affected about 25% of the world grain trade and has led to rising world prices, food inflation and de- clining access to food in Ukraine's and Russia's importing countries. In particular, wheat and sunflower oil. The whole world is interested in resolving the situation, as the supply of wheat from Ukraine is more than 10% of the annual wheat consumption for 15 countries. For example, this is 28% of Indonesia's needs, 21% of Bangladesh's, and Egypt imports almost 80% of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine. Most of the products were sent through Ukrainian ports, which are currently blocked. As a result, before the start of the war in Ukraine, there were more than 20 million tons of products intended for export. The capacity of railways, highways and river ports was a total of up to 250 thousand tons per month. Now, these alternative paths need to be increased at least tenfold. During March-May, 66% of agricultural exports went by rail, 25% by river ports and 9% by trucks. Most goods go by rail to the borders of Poland, Slovakia and Hunga- ry. European infrastructure is not ready for our cargo: there is a lack of locomotives, wagons, capacity, and port terminals. All Ukrainian goods need to be reloaded, as Ukrainian and European tracks differ in size. Ukraine exports goods by water through three river ports on the Dan- ube: Izmail, Ust-Danube and Rhenish. Today, EU leaders are currently working to create so-called sep- arate green corridors through which grain that is not needed for domestic consumption could be exported quickly and uninterrupt- edly. This is a priority search for grain trucks; on the formation of routes where these grain trucks could be passed as a priority, rath- er than in the general queue; on speeding up the documentation of relevant goods, including customs, veterinary and other checks at the Ukraine-EU border 24/7. A number of EU member states have responded to our needs: Poland is speeding up border procedures and transporting Ukrainian products, the G7 countries fully support Ukraine's new chains, and Austria has recently lifted restrictions on Ukrainian carriers. Permits, which, together with the previously lifted “The war in Ukraine has already affected about 25% of the world grain trade and has led to rising world prices, food inflation and declining access to food in Ukraine's and Russia's import- ing countries. If the situation with the war and the blockade of ports lasts, the countries in the Middle East and North Africa will in principle not have grain. And that means hunger. Therefore, international security standards should be applied to Ukraine as a guarantor of food security.” Ukraine: World food security defenders Taras Vysotskyi Ukraine's First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food