Ukraine seeks EU grain help

Ukraine's agriculture minister Taras Vysotskyi came to Brussels asking EU countries to help move grain exports and provide one point one billion euros for shipping costs. Attacks on ports continue into a third month.

“It's very, very critical”

Poland and Romania say no

Poland and Romania, which have vital infrastructure for shipping and storage, refused to help. Romania's agriculture minister Barna Tánczos said excess Ukrainian grain is already overloading his country's ports and preventing Romanian farmers from selling.

“The interest for our own farmers remains a priority”

The gap between ambition and reality

The EU wants to support Ukraine, but domestic politics matter more. Poland, Slovakia and Hungary had already barred Ukrainian grain imports before the latest Black Sea fighting. European farmers are a powerful constituency in many member countries.

How much grain is stuck

Less than half of Ukraine's exports can currently get out through European rail, road and river routes, Vysotskyi said. Up to thirty five million tons could end up stuck in Ukraine this year if the blockade persists.

Next harvest at risk

Harvested grain piles up without buyers, leaving farmers without cash to plant winter seeds for next year. Vysotskyi warned the planted area could drop by thirty five to forty percent if the situation continues until spring.

“If the situation stays like this till spring, it could mean the decrease of even 35-40% of the planted area”

Global hunger crisis looms

More than seventeen percent of the world's traded grain could be affected by drops in exports from Russia and Ukraine. A Council on Foreign Relations report warns the number of people driven into acute hunger could exceed all recorded battlefield casualties in the Russia-Ukraine war.

“The number of people driven into acute hunger by the current Black Sea crisis could exceed all recorded battlefield casualties in the Russia-Ukraine war”