Ukraine reaches pre-war levels of export through maritime grain corridor - Prime Minister
Photo: Ukraine reached pre-war volumes of grain exports by sea (Getty Images)
In January, Ukraine returned to pre-war levels of sea exports, approaching overall export figures comparable to those before the full-scale invasion, stated Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during a government meeting.
According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, six months ago, Ukraine successfully lifted the Russian blockade of the Black Sea, revitalizing maritime trade through the Ukrainian maritime logistics corridor. Concurrently, a project to insure Ukrainian exports against war risks was launched.
"More than 660 ships have already passed through the new grain corridor, carrying some 20 million tonnes of cargo to 32 countries. 70% of these cargoes are products of our agricultural producers. In January, we reached pre-war export volumes by sea, and in terms of total exports, we are already approaching the figures we had before the full-scale invasion," said Shmyhal.
He also added that in January, the total Ukrainian exports amounted to $3.1 billion, of which $1.9 billion was from maritime exports.
For the first month of 2024, the state budget received 14% more in taxes and 30% more in customs payments than planned.
In total, the Prime Minister noted that 116 billion uah were received into the general fund of the state budget, and together with collections for the general and special funds, it amounted to 154.2 billion uah.
New grain corridor
In mid-July 2023, Russia withdrew from the "grain agreement," which allowed the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea. Following this, Ukraine decided to resume exports without renewing the participation of the country-terrorist. Russians made various attempts to obstruct the operation of the "grain corridor," including attacks on ports and infrastructure.
However, thanks to the efforts of the military and international diplomacy, aggressor attacks in the grain corridor regions were successfully halted.
By August, Ukraine had opened temporary corridors for civilian trade vessels. The routes were primarily intended for ships stranded in Ukrainian ports since the beginning of the war.
According to the Center for Transport Strategies, in six months of operation of the Black Sea corridor organized by Ukraine, 661 vessels exported over 20 million tons of cargo to 32 countries worldwide from the ports of Odesa. Of these, 14.3 million tons were products from Ukrainian farmers.
