Ukraine Faces $3 Billion Bill for Shifting Grain Exports

Ukraine's Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotskyi warned that shifting grain exports to alternative routes will come at a steep cost. He stated that during periods of active use, these routes can only handle up to 50% of the volume that would normally be shipped through the ports of Greater Odesa.

According to Vysotskyi, with an export potential of over 60 million tonnes, it will be physically impossible to export half of this volume via alternative routes. The maximum capacity of these routes is around 2.5 million tonnes per month on average, but can reach up to 3 million tonnes in some months.

Vysotskyi emphasized that alternative routes come with additional costs of $50 or more per tonne, which would add up to $3 billion in total costs. He stated that neither agricultural producers nor the state budget have such reserves to compensate for this.