Ukrainian Prime Minister: US$170 million a day due to lack of access to ports

The Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Szmyhal said on Monday in Odessa, during a meeting with the President of the Charles Michel European Council, that Ukraine is losing USD 170 million a day due to lack of access to ports, and the country's export potential has been reduced by half.

90 million tonnes of agricultural products which Ukraine intended to export to countries in Asia, Africa and Europe have been blocked.

Denys Szmyhal, Prime Minister of Ukraine

Some of the export goods are transported by trucks or by rail, but the rest are stuck in regions that are under fire or have been looted by Russia," he added.

The President of the Council of Europe, who made an unannounced visit to Odessa in the south of Ukraine on Monday, stressed that the blockade by Russian forces of Ukrainian ports makes the war of Russia affect the world supply chains, and especially the supply of grain, many tons of which are stuck in ports due to Russian blocking of the Black Sea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski, who spoke to Michel, called for the immediate unlocking of Ukrainian ports to allow grain exports and prevent food crisis.

Source: PAP