In addition, sea transport is superior to rail or road transport for a bulk product such as cereals.
31.5. 16:52 | Updated 31.5. 18:38
Brussels
The world threatens a food crisis when grain produced in Ukraine will not be able to circulate through the Black Sea ports besieged by Russia. This result of the war also ended on the table of EU leaders at the Brussels summit on Tuesday.
If you can’t get to the sea, would you succeed by land? EU investigations to date show that when an established export route is disrupted, new ones are not thrown upside down.
In addition, sea transport is superior to rail or road transport for a bulk product such as cereals.
The EU has appealed to the Russian president Vladimir Putinthat the deep-sea ports and sea routes in the Black Sea be opened up to allow grain exports. The petition was futile: Putin said this would happen if the EU first lifted the sanctions it had imposed on Russia and, for example, allowed Russian ships back into EU ports.
It seems unfortunate that it would be very good for Putin if the food crisis causes unrest and moves refugees to EU countries, for example.
The President of France Emmanuel Macron said at the Brussels summit that he had appealed together to the German chancellor Olaf Scholzin with Russia to end the blockade of the port of Odessa under the terms of a UN resolution.
Before war Ukraine exported 75 percent of its grain harvest, whose main products are, in addition to wheat, sunflower oil and corn. It accounted for about one-fifth of Ukraine’s export earnings.
Before the war, many countries had built their grain imports on Ukraine. Lebanon has imported 80 percent of the wheat it consumes from Ukraine, India 76 percent from sunflower oil.
Under the auspices of the UN World Food Program, WFP sourced 40 percent of the wheat it distributed to Ukraine from the poorest countries.
At the start of the war, it was suspected that Ukrainian farmers would not be able to do field work, but they have succeeded amazingly well. Now it would start to be in a hurry to get the grain from the previous season in stock so that there is room for a new crop.
Ukraine has estimated that it should be allowed to export about 25 million tons of grain in the coming months before a new crop is completed in late summer. The magnitude of the challenge is illustrated by the fact that in April Ukraine received only 1.2 million tonnes.
Ukraine they desperately need help from EU countries. The country has recently received grain delivered for export by rail through EU countries, but the quantities are far from pre-war sea transport.
At the beginning of May, the EU announced its efforts to create “solidarity bands”, ie alternative routes for grain exports from Ukraine. The lanes would also allow Ukraine to import essential fertilizers and feed.
Read more: Decisions on solidarity corridors to facilitate the purchase of grain in Ukraine in the coming days, says Minister Kurvinen
The main reason for the current slowness is that, in the wake of Soviet times, Ukraine has a wider track gauge than Europe, 1,520 millimeters, compared to 1,435 millimeters in Europe. This means that at the border, grain must either be transferred from Ukrainian wagons to Europeans or the bogies of the wagons must be replaced.
No provision has been made for such a runway at the border crossing points on the scale that would be needed now. There is no necessary equipment, there are not enough employees, there is no on-call service around the clock.
In addition, EU countries have been reluctant to allow their wagons to be loaded across the border into Ukraine for security reasons.
Second an even more annoying reason is bureaucracy. A few EU Member States have required more export documents for Ukrainian consignments of grain than the Commission has deemed necessary in this situation. This is now being discussed with the Member States.
The Commission estimates that thousands of train carriages are currently waiting to enter the Member States on the Ukrainian side. The average waiting time is more than two weeks, with almost a month at some border crossing points.
According to the Commission, the waiting time for lorries is also too long. In addition, there is a shortage of road transport equipment, as well as drivers – even before the war. The Commission therefore hopes that EU countries will cut red tape and make it easier for Ukrainian trucks and drivers to enter the EU.
The Commission has also considered river transport along the Danube, but it is considered to be of minor importance.
“All modes of transport need to be mobilized at full capacity,” the Commission said.
All the stones will be turned, as the success of Ukraine’s export shipments is literally a matter of life and death in the coming months. It is also necessary to be prepared for the fact that derogations will be needed for years to come.
Read more: A historic number of people are on the verge of starvation
Read more: Von der Leyen accuses Russia of using food as a weapon – Polish PM compares Russia to Stalin’s famine
Read more: Experts: The global food crisis could worsen as states begin to protect their own resources
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