Ukraine Turns to Moldova as Key Transit Route for Grain Exports Amid Russian Blockade

Ukraine continues to seek ways to export its cereals after the blockade imposed by Russia on the Black Sea. Nezavisimaia Gazeta reports that the Republic of Moldova has become the main country for the transit of Ukrainian cereals to the West. When the Ukrainian port of Reni, on the Danube, was rendered inoperative after bombardments by the Russian Aerospace Forces, the small Moldovan port of Giurgiulești, at the mouth of the same river, proved to be very useful,” writes the Russian daily.

However, the problem lies in the long queues of trucks at the checkpoints in southern Moldova, near Giurgiulești, as Ukrainian exporters prefer to deliver their goods through the Giurgiulești International Free Port or the Giurgiuleşti-Galaţi customs to reach European markets via Romania, Nezavisimaia Gazeta notes.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry, Vladimir Bolea, wrote on Facebook: “We have agreed on opening additional control and synchronization routes with the Romanian side. According to customs, approximately 190 trucks passed through the Giurgiulești checkpoint in the last 24 hours, of which about 70% were carrying cereals.”

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In Moldova, this year’s wheat harvest will be 1.2 million tons, twice as much as last year. However, the country’s internal needs are limited to 400 thousand tons. Still, according to farmers, due to low cereal prices – 2.9 Moldovan lei per kilogram of wheat (1 Moldovan leu equals 0.056 dollars) – and difficulties in exporting it, tens of thousands of tons of last year’s cereal harvest remain unsold.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian cereals not only transit through Moldova but are also supplied to the Moldovan market. Previously, Moldovan farmers urged the government to ban the import of cheaper Ukrainian cereals, as it makes their own harvest non-competitive. However, the government has refused.