Ukraine guarantees insurance payouts for damaged vessels
(Reuters) — Ukraine, a major producer of grain, oilseeds and steel products, will guarantee insurance payments to cargo vessels damaged in hostilities on its stretch of the Danube, according to the government decision published Friday.
Ukraine exports almost all its commodities through Black Sea ports now blocked due to the Russian invasion.
The Danube, the second-longest river in Europe, flows through eight countries from the mountains of western Germany to Ukraine and the Black Sea.
“We are talking about the possibility of fully-fledged work at only three Ukrainian seaports: Reni, Izmail, Ust-Dunaysk. Their role takes precedence,” the Ukrainian infrastructure ministry said on social media.
The government did not provide details of the insurance system but instructed the infrastructure ministry to develop a plan.
Ukrainian agriculture analysts have said the country, which exported 43 million tons in the peace period of 2021/22 July-June season, could export only around 1 million tons of grain in the next three months, due to logistics difficulties.
Before the war, the government said the grain exports could reach 65 million tons this season.
Ukraine was the world's fourth-largest grain exporter in the 2020/21 season, International Grains Council data shows.
Russia sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it calls a “special military operation” to demilitarize the country. Western countries call it an unprovoked war of aggression.
