On August 1, the ship carrying Ukrainian grain departed from the port of Odesa for the first time in the past five months, Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov said in a Facebook post.
“The first ship with Ukrainian foodstuffs left the Odesa port,” the minister wrote.
The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni, loaded with 26,000 tons of Ukrainian corn, is heading to the port of Tripoli in Lebanon.
The minister noted that Ukraine was the fourth largest corn exporter in the world, so the possibility of exporting it through the ports would help ensure global food security.
“Today, Ukraine, together with its partners, is taking another step towards preventing world hunger. Unblocking the ports will provide at least $1 billion in foreign currency earnings for the economy and an opportunity for the agrarian sector to plan next year’s sowing,” Kubrakov emphasized.
According to him, 16 more Ukrainian ships are waiting for their turn to leave.
In turn, Serhiy Bratchuk, the spokesman of the Odesa Regional Administration, noted that the safety of cargo transportation was confirmed by Ukraine’s guarantor partners – the UN and Turkey. (Ukrinform/Business World Magazine)