Ukraine is and will continue to be a leader in global efforts for food security. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said this in his annual address to the Verkhovna Rada on December 28.
“We are already becoming – and we will become! – leaders in global efforts for food security. This year has shown that without a Ukrainian farmer, without Ukrainian agricultural exports it is impossible to guarantee not only food, but also social security for dozens of countries in Africa, Asia and Europe. Our two initiatives – Export Grain Initiative and Grain from Ukraine program – have returned the world to vital stability,” said Zelensky.
According to him, more than 15 million tons of food products for export to more than forty countries of the world in just five months in the conditions of a full-scale war is Ukraine’s first grain initiative. The President thanked UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan for supporting the recovery of agricultural exports.
“There are already more than thirty donor states and almost $200 million – this is our second grain initiative, a humanitarian one. The European Union and Qatar, Turkey and Japan, Norway and Korea, Canada and the United States of America are just the beginning of the global humanitarian corridor for countries facing the threat of famine. Famine because of Russia. Even now, when we are having difficult time, we have shared our Ukrainian bread with those for whom it’s even more difficult,” the President said. (Ukrinform/Business World Magazine)