Grain export initiative to be expanded in coming weeks: President Zelenskyy

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced during the United Nations Security Council meeting that the existing grain export initiative shall be expanded in the coming weeks.

He stressed that following the blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea and Azov ports food shortage in the global market intensified, whereas the market had been destabilized even before that.

"Fortunately, we were able to achieve the conditions under which russia was forced to accept the demands of the international community. This allowed grain exports from three Ukrainian ports to be resumed. Although it relieves some of the tension in the food market, it does not completely eliminate the threat," the President stressed.

He is convinced that only a full resumption of Ukrainian agricultural exports can guarantee that tens of millions of people around the world will have access to food.

The president of Ukraine thanked UN Secretary-General António Guterres and President of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other conscientious subjects of international relations fighting against the food crisis, for which russia alone is responsible. He added: "Already in the coming weeks we must do everything to expand the existing grain export initiative."

During 1-22 August, 33 ships departed the ports of Big Odesa (Chornomorsk, Odesa, Pivdenny) loaded with 719,549 t of Ukrainian agricultural commodities. 18 more vessels were being loaded and prepared to sail off.

In 24 weeks of the russia-Ukraine war, agri-food commodities export from Ukraine totalled 10 mln t.

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