Lithuania has offered the European Union to use Baltic ports to export Ukrainian grain after Russia pulled out of the “grain deal” and began destroying Ukraine’s port structure. This was reported by AFP with reference to a letter sent to the European Commission on July 24 (RBC’s summary of July 25). The letter states that the Baltic Sea ports can serve as a “reliable alternative” for the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products, including grain. 25m tons of grain can be transported through them annually.
Earlier, the director-general of the Klaipeda seaport, Algis Latakas, said that 10m tons of Ukrainian grain could be transshipped. However, the delivery of products to the port may become a problem. If the issue is resolved, Klaipeda will already be able to provide 100 percent service for a part of Ukrainian grain: the port can accept 10-15m tons of grain, while Lithuanian grain exports amount to about 3.5m tons.
We shall remind you that the “grain deal” was concluded in July 2022 by Russia and Ukraine independently of each other with the mediation of Turkey and the UN. The agreement concerned the export of Ukrainian agricultural products from the ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Pivdenny, while Russia made demands to lift restrictions on Russian agricultural exports and to connect Rosselkhozbank to the international Swift system.
The agreement was extended several times, but on 17 July Russia refused to do so, started shelling Ukrainian ports and threatened to stop ships leaving Ukrainian ports.
