Britain warns Russia may attack ships, EU to boost Ukraine exports

EU “SOLIDARITY LANES”

The European Union said on Tuesday it is ready to export almost all of Ukraine’s farm produce via road and rail “solidarity lanes” through neighbouring EU countries and help cover transportation costs.

“We are ready to export almost everything. This is about four million tonnes per month of oilseeds and grains and we achieved this volume in November last year,” EU agriculture commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said.

Wojciechowski said that the EU was looking to come up with a joint plan to cover the additional transport costs.

Expanding grain transit through the EU is sensitive for Poland and some countries bordering Ukraine, where farmers have come under pressure from increased Ukrainian imports.

In May, the EU allowed five countries close to Ukraine – Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – to ban domestic sales of Ukrainian wheat, maize and oilseeds until Sep 15, while allowing transit through them for onward export.

The EU will review the ban after several countries pushed for an extension beyond Sep 15.

Polish Agriculture minister Robert Telus told reporters on Tuesday that he wanted a flexible ban, explaining as an example that Poland wanted to prohibit raspberries, but would allow sunflower seeds.

“There is no way that after Sep 15 Ukraine grain will enter Poland,” Telus said. “We have quite a lot of grain, prices of grain already today are low … it would completely destabilise our market.”

EU member Lithuania has asked the European Commission to develop a route for Ukrainian grain through five ports in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The five ports have a combined grain export capacity of 25 million tonnes, the letter said.

Ukraine and the Baltic States railways are built on Russian-type gauge, which is incompatible with the railway gauge used in Poland, the only practical route between the countries.

USAID chief Samantha Power said on Tuesday that Washington would look to invest in additional grain storage for Ukraine so that harvests that could have been shipped via the Black Sea do not rot while waiting to be exported to global markets.