Ukraine expects no Black Sea ceasefire in coming months
Ukraine's agriculture minister, Taras Vysotskyi, said in Brussels that he sees no positive signs of a ceasefire covering grain exports via the Black Sea in the coming months, and that Russia has so far rejected all proposals from Kyiv's partners. Strikes on port facilities since July have cut Ukraine's exports; alternative routes now account for 45 per cent of what needs to be shipped, with a maximum of 50 per cent of agricultural commodities exportable by those routes, leaving a risk that around 30 million tons will not be exported this marketing year. The European Commission denied Ukraine's request for €220 million for farmers and a liquidity mechanism, though Vysotskyi said a US$250 million low-interest World Bank loan would provide sufficient funding.
Why it matters: It bears on the food security theme: continued attacks on port infrastructure leave more than a quarter of the world's wheat shipments exposed to disruption.