Other countries, especially the Middle East and Africa, will not be able to do without export supplies of Ukrainian agricultural products. Replace it with nothing physically, including supplies from the aggressor country of the Russian Federation or any other.
Taras Vysotskyi, First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, emphasized this.
We supplied 10% of world exports of wheat, more than 15-20% of barley, and more than 50% of sunflower oil. On average, 50 million tons of agricultural products were exported from Ukraine. In record years, this figure reached even 65 million tons. Today, it is impossible to find an alternative to such volumes and replace our products. This cannot be done physically, even in the next 3-5 years.
Taras Vysotskyi
According to him, due to the blockade of the ports of Odessa and Mykolayiv, we can export 15-20% of pre-war figures today. This has already led to significant increases in agricultural prices and physical shortages worldwide, especially in the Middle East and North Africa.
"If the situation with the war and the blockade of ports lasts, for example, up to six months, the countries of these regions, in principle, will not have grain. And that means hunger," Taras Vysotsky stated.
He stressed that the Government is currently working on expanding physical exports through alternative routes. For example, in April, it was exported 4 times more than in March.
"It is not enough, but there is significant progress. And we see in May that there is an opportunity to increase exports. Therefore, there are two strategies: first of all, our victory and the release of ports, and secondly - the expansion of these alternative ways of selling products," he said.
In addition, Taras Vysotsky stressed that government officials are in dialogue with other countries to ensure that they adhere to the embargo on agricultural supplies to Russia.
