Attacks on Odessa's ports threaten to cause a collapse in Ukraine's exports — Reuters
Systematic Russian attacks on Ukraine’s Black Sea ports have caused serious damage to the country’s export infrastructure and could lead to a sharp decline in shipments of Ukrainian products to global markets.
The agricultural sector and stable foreign exchange revenues to the state budget are particularly at risk of coming to a complete halt.
The invaders’ massive strikes on logistics facilities are significantly hampering the operation of the maritime corridor during wartime.
Currently, all of Ukraine’s iron ore and over 90% of agricultural exports are transported through three key ports in the Odesa hub.
Revenues from the sale of agricultural products abroad account for the lion’s share of the country’s total financial revenues amid a full-scale invasion.
Further destruction of these facilities threatens to halt trade operations and trigger a deep economic crisis.
Representatives of the industry association are sounding the alarm over the inability of businesses to independently overcome the consequences of daily enemy attacks.
“The situation in the ports of the Odesa region has reached a critical point. Systematic Russian shelling is destroying the logistical heart of Ukraine. Companies have exhausted their financial reserves on endless repairs under fire. Without a state framework program and support from foreign funds, it is impossible to restore the terminals on our own,” reads a statement from the Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation (UAC).
According to official World Bank estimates, the total funding needs for the full restoration of Ukraine’s entire transport sector were estimated at $96.3 billion.
At the same time, experts from the international institution emphasize that about 60% of all financial losses in this sector are directly caused by prolonged restrictions and disruptions to free access to seaports.
Dozens of modern grain and oilseed terminals are located in the combat zone, some of which belong to large multinational corporations.
If port complexes lose the ability to carry out restoration work quickly, export volumes will plummet, and domestic storage facilities will become completely overloaded.
As a result, Ukrainian farmers will simply lack the working capital needed to carry out the next planting seasons.
Reuters reports on this.
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