Croatia has agreed for its ports to be used for the export of Ukrainian grain after the Black Sea grain deal expired, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
“We have agreed on the possibility of using Croatian ports on the Danube and the Adriatic Sea for the transport of Ukrainian grain. Now we will work to establish the most efficient routes to these ports,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced.
Since Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain initiative, Ukrainian food exports have become an important topic of negotiations..
Last week, Lithuania proposed to the European Commission that Baltic ports be used as an alternative route for exporting Ukrainian grain and other products, emphasising that Russia’s decision to terminate the grain deal as well as its attacks on the port of Odesa will worsen the already dire state of food security worldwide.
Lithuanian authorities said that Baltic Sea ports have a throughput capacity of 25 million tonnes of grain annually. Last week, Klaipeda Seaport CEO Algis Latakas said that Lithuania’s main port could handle 10-15 million tonnes of grain, but the logistics of getting the cargo to the Baltic Sea coast remain problematic.
On 17 July, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the termination of the grain deal and the disbanding of the joint coordination centre in Istanbul. The ministry added that Russia would withdraw guarantees for the safety of navigation, curtail the humanitarian maritime corridor and once again declare the north-western Black Sea a dangerous area.