By Rostyslav Averchuk
Vashkivtsi, Ukraine, Oct 17 (EFE).- Ukrainian farmers are trying to keep grain exports moving despite the disruption of Black Sea shipping routes, increasing overland deliveries through Romania and other neighboring countries as Russian attacks on ports and vessels threaten supplies.
At a mid-sized agricultural enterprise in Vashkivtsi, a small city in Ukraine’s Chernivtsi region near the Romanian border, trucks are being loaded with large sacks of sunflower seeds.
The cargo would normally travel by rail to Odesa, from where millions of tonnes of grain were exported each month to destinations across Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Russian attacks on port infrastructure and civilian vessels have effectively halted exports through Odesa since late June, forcing farmers to seek alternatives.
“We are able to fall back on the contacts we forged in 2022, when the ports were blocked for the first time,” Anatoliy Makoviychuk, co-founder of the agricultural enterprise, told EFE.
Some trucks will head to Turkey, where a local company will process the seeds.
Others will travel to the Romanian port of Constanța, where the cargo will be loaded onto ships. Supplies to a Bulgarian company are also about to begin, Makoviychuk said.
Seeking alternatives
Transporting grain by land can cost up to six times as much as shipping it through Odesa’s ports, Makoviychuk said.
The difference in capacity is equally stark: moving by land in a month the volume that could previously be exported through the ports in a single day.
With domestic prices falling sharply, farmers have little choice but to increase shipments abroad to raise the funds needed to keep operating and free up storage space for the next harvest.
“The main goal is not to give up, to survive and to pay off accumulating debts,” Makoviychuk said. The enterprise has just finished sowing its fields despite high fuel and other costs.
Higher logistics expenses mean that exporting only certain crops, mainly rapeseed and sunflower seeds, remains economically viable. Wheat stocks are piling up, leaving barely any room for the coming corn harvest.
“Perhaps we will have to keep the corn on the fields until spring,” Makoviychuk said.
Farmers are also facing a shortage of truck drivers amid ongoing military recruitment. Still, they are ready to increase deliveries through Romania, Makoviychuk said.
Capacity could be expanded quickly by improving border crossings, where trucks can now be held up for days by slow checks.
Under pressure
Rail exports would be faster and cheaper, but Russian strikes have left Ukraine short of locomotives, while available trains must be booked weeks or months in advance.
The governments of Romania and Poland have indicated they will not expand transit capacity for Ukrainian grain, while plans to increase shipments through Moldova have yet to materialize.
Ukraine’s harvest is forecast to reach 80 million tonnes this year, of which around 60 million tonnes would normally be exported, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
Exports rose from 33 percent of the required volume in August to about half in September, but roughly 30 million tonnes will still remain unsold, Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotskyi said.
Even that figure is uncertain, as exports through the Danube ports, a key alternative while Odesa remains closed, are also under threat.
Four vessels, some carrying Ukrainian grain, were struck by drones near Romania and Bulgaria in recent days, prompting both countries to seek NATO support.
Without a solution, the disruption could have lasting consequences for global supplies as wheat prices rise.
Some Ukrainian producers have already ceased operations, while others are reducing the areas they sow because they are forced to sell at low domestic prices, Makoviychuk said.
“After years of war, the situation is critical now,” he said. “We are eager to keep operating, yet need urgent help in exporting our production.” EFE
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