Hungary proposes to expand the Grain Agreement from three to five ports

Hungary offered Turkey help to extend the Grain Agreement and expand it from three to five ports.

This is necessary so that Ukrainian agricultural products can once again be delivered to the countries of southern Europe, Africa and the Middle East by traditional routes, said the Minister of Agriculture of Hungary István Nagy, Interfax-Ukraine writes.

“The minister drew the attention of his Turkish colleague to the fact that Turkey’s role in the Russian-Ukrainian war is crucial, as it maintains excellent relations with both sides,” the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture of Hungary noted.

According to Nady, due to the military conflict, Ukrainian grain coming across the borders of the five front-line countries creates serious market difficulties and poses problems for farmers.

According to him, Hungary continues to support the work of the EU’s “solidarity corridor”, however “the corridor did not live up to expectations and could not replace Black Sea shipping”. Nagy expressed confidence that difficulties can be solved if Ukrainian grain can once again reach destination countries via traditional routes.

The Hungarian minister recalled that since the conclusion of the Grain Agreement in July of last year, about 1,080 ships with grain and other food products with more than 30 million tons of cargo, 50% of which were corn, left three Ukrainian ports.

“Our responsibility is historic, because if we manage to extend the agreement and get more than three ports out of the blockade, it will serve both to protect the affected European countries and to meet the needs of developing countries,” the Hungarian agricultural department quoted its head.