Ukrainian expert: without unblocking Odesa ports by December, next year’s planting season will be disrupted

Director of the Center for Transport Strategies Serhiy Vovk has warned that if Ukraine fails to lift the blockade on the Greater Odesa ports before winter, next year’s planting season will be at risk.

He made the statement on the Espreso television channel.

According to Vovk, the Black Sea ports have no alternatives in terms of cargo flows. Neither the European transport system nor the corridor through the Danube and Romania can handle the volumes that the Ukrainian economy needs for export.

“In terms of cargo flows, the Black Sea ports have no alternatives whatsoever. So we must unblock them… In the case of imports, we can indeed shift flows in some way relatively quickly. But in the case of exports, unfortunately, neither the European system nor the corridor through the Danube and through Romania will be able to handle the volumes that the Ukrainian economy needs,” — Vovk said.

The expert pointed to the already tangible consequences of the blockade: Ukraine is losing foreign currency revenues and enterprises are being forced to cut production volumes. In addition, he said, Russia is deliberately trying to push Ukraine out of its traditional export markets.

Vovk identified November–December as the critical deadline. If no solutions are found by that point, not only next year’s planting season will be at risk, but also the situation in the industrial sector, which the expert described as “extremely difficult.”