Economy

The parties plan to resume the work of the intergovernmental commission, which will coordinate bilateral trade and expand the presence of Ukrainian agricultural products on the Lebanese market.

Targeted Russian attacks on merchant ships in the Black Sea have called into question further sea shipments and forced traders to suspend purchases of agricultural products.

The State Property Fund of Ukraine plans to hold an auction on October 19 to sell the state stake in JSC Odesa Port Plant.

Farmers have called on the government to postpone the planned increase in Ukrzaliznytsia’s freight tariffs and review approaches to tariff formation.

Since the start of the full-scale war, Russian troops have struck 232 ships in the Black Sea and destroyed over a thousand Ukrainian port infrastructure facilities.

After the intensification of Russian attacks on civilian vessels and port infrastructure, Ukrainian maritime exports have once again found themselves in a state of uncertainty.

USM spoke with Dmytro Barinov, President of the Association of Ports of Ukraine “Ukrport”, about how this situation affects the port business, traders and farmers, whether the Danube and land routes can replace deep-sea ports, as well as what is needed to return foreign vessels to the Ukrainian direction.

If the operation of deep-sea ports remains unstable, Egypt may increase grain purchases from the Americas.

The actual suspension of ship calls to the ports of Great Odesa is already leading to losses for port terminals, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, and agricultural producers.

Even if the Danube ports handle only corn, it will take about 11 months to export the projected volume.

The Southern Mining and Processing Complex has begun the process of suspending production and temporarily reducing work volumes.