Ukraine: An effective and safe Sea corridor
Ukraine has been ensuring the operation of a safe Sea corridor on its own. As is well known, starting from the 18th-19th centuries, Ukraine has been the granary of Europe, and in the era of its independence, it has become one of the leading grain exporters.
In 2021, before the armed attack by russia, Ukraine exported enough grain to the global food market to additionally feed approximately 400 million people (not including the population of Ukraine itself). By 2030, if not for the war, Ukraine could have fed 1 billion people on the planet and become one of the biggest guarantors of food security in the world.
Odesa Port
Currently, more than 90% of Ukrainian agricultural products are exported by sea. Ukraine’s role in global food security is extremely important, especially regarding food exports to African and Asian countries. However, with the start of russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Ukraine’s seaports were effectively blocked. Due to the danger of being attacked by russian armed forces in the open sea area, dozens of foreign cargo ships and hundreds of their crew members – citizens of various countries – were trapped in Ukrainian ports. This also led to the blockade of Ukrainian sea exports.
After several months of tense negotiations involving representatives of the Ukrainian government, UN structures, and the government of the Republic of Turkey, on July 22 in Istanbul, two mirror agreements titled the “Initiative on the Safe Transportation of Grain and Foodstuffs from Ukrainian Ports” were signed. The Black Sea Grain Initiative was a unique operation to ensure global food security and stabilize world food prices. During nearly a year of the “Grain Initiative” (the first ship departed on August 1, 2022, and the last one – on July 16, 2023), 1,004 ships exported 32.8 million tons of agricultural products from three Ukrainian ports to 45 countries worldwide.
Odesa Port
Odesa Port
However, on July 16, Russia unilaterally announced its withdrawal from the Istanbul Agreement. At the initiative of the State government to ensure cargo transportation from the ports of Greater Odesa, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA), together with the Ukrainian Defense Forces organized the operation of temporary routes for civilian vessels to and from Black Sea ports – the so-called “Ukrainian Corridor” starting from August 8, 2023. In 10 months of operation, the Ukrainian Corridor has transported more than 55 million tons of cargo by sea, of which over 37 million tons were food products.
The increase in transportation volumes clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of the Ukrainian Sea Corridor. Despite constant shelling of port infrastructure by russia, Ukraine remains a top exporter of agricultural products and a guarantor of global food security.
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