EU ready to move almost all of Ukraine's grain exports via solidarity lanes

THE European Union (EU) is ready to export almost all of Ukraine’s agriculture goods via “solidarity lanes”, the EU’s agriculture commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said on Tuesday (Jul 25), after Russia pulled out of a United Nations-backed Black Sea grain deal this month.

Solidarity lanes are rail and road transport connections through EU member states that border Ukraine.

“It is not the first time Russia (is using) food as a weapon... The situation is similar to the beginning of the war,” Wojciechowski told reporters.

“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,” he added.

He said 60 per cent of Ukraine’s exports were shipped via solidarity lanes, and 40 per cent went via the Black Sea while the grain deal was in operation.

The collapse of the deal is expected to take a particularly heavy toll on countries in Africa that depend on deliveries by sea.

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The commissioner added that the EU was looking at several initiatives from member states to come up with a joint plan to cover the additional transport costs for the export of Ukraine’s agricultural goods.

Wojciechowski said there was no immediate estimate for the cost of funding the transport.

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