Ukraine cannot export about 90M tonnes of agricultural products due to blocking of ports – Shmyhal

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

“Ukraine has proved to be an extremely powerful producer and supplier of food to the world. Now the world is preparing for a powerful food crisis caused not by sanctions against Russia, but, in fact, by its actions to block our seaports. We cannot export about 90 million tonnes of our agricultural products,” he stressed.

He clarified that for the first time in the past hundred years, a situation has been recorded when one state blocks the ports of another in order to create a food crisis in the world.

“Seaports are blocked, and 70% of these exports went through them. In fact, the greater part of our border is in the war zone or with unfriendly countries. We have a very reliable ‘bottleneck’ for exports, but with much lower capacity compared to ports. I’m talking about our western border with Europe,” Shmyhal added.

Earlier reports said that Ukraine had restricted exports of buckwheat, rye and oats during martial law to avoid their possible shortage.