The strikes of Russian drones and missiles on Ukraine since July have destroyed 280,000 tons of agricultural products. Such data is provided by the government of Great Britain, writes Forbes with reference to the Financial Times.
Over the past two months, Russia has carried out a wave of attacks on Ukraine’s Danube ports. The main aim was to damage economic infrastructure and export routes. The urgent question is how quickly Ukrainian companies will be able to cover the additional costs of these alternative routes.
Pointless to plant crops
According to Yevhen Osypov, CEO of Kernel, Ukrainian farmers find it pointless to plant crops because they simply lose money. Thus, high costs will hurt grain production in Ukraine and lead to a halving of exports in 2024 compared to last year’s level.
Was $69, now $116/t
Viktor Berestenko, president of the Association of International Freight Forwarders, added that exporting a ton of grain to Egypt via the Danube costs about $116/t compared to about $69 before the Russian invasion last year.
Nevertheless, Ukrainian farmers and shippers say that the capacity of the Danube can continue to expand. The advantage of the Danube is that there are many places for loading, and the infrastructure is distributed. Such statements show that Ukrainians are not going to dance to the tune of Russia.