The ball is in law enforcement's court: what will happen to those who try to block the work of companies participating in the grain initiative
Kyiv • UNN
"Ukraine's Grain Corridor is crucial for agricultural exports and food security, as well as for filling the state budget, so any attempts to block the work of companies participating in this initiative are unacceptable. This is emphasized by MPs and experts.
Blocking the work of enterprises that facilitate the export of products through the Ukrainian sea corridor is unacceptable and will negatively affect budget revenues. Law enforcement officers should promptly respond to any attempts to interfere with the work of such enterprises. This was emphasized by MPs and experts in their comments to UNN.
After Russia withdrew from the grain agreement, Ukraine independently created the so-called "sea" or "grain" corridor. Thanks to the functioning of this corridor, Ukraine remains one of the main exporters of agricultural products and a guarantor of food security in the world. In addition, companies that contribute to the operation of the maritime corridor ensure stable exports of grain and other products, and thus bring revenue to the state budget.
The work of such enterprises should be stable, and law enforcement officers should promptly respond to any blocking or obstruction of their activities.
"The grain corridor is very important because it is the closest way to deliver grain to the countries that buy it from us. It's a long way to go through the Baltic States, whereas the logistics are cheaper on the Black Sea. Cheaper logistics means more money for our farmers, and this is one of the most important ways to logistics products. We cannot block (the work of the participating companies - ed.). There are law enforcement agencies for this, if someone violates the law, they must respond quickly," Dmytro Solomchuk, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy, emphasized in a comment to UNN.
MP Yulia Klymenko in a commentary to UNN also notedthat blocking the work of enterprises that contribute to the work of the sea corridor will have negative consequences for exports and will lead to a decrease in state budget revenues.
One of the companies that transships grain within the maritime corridor is Odesa Port Plant JSC. Recently, the commercial structure "Allseeds Black Sea" without signing any contracts tried to direct its transport to the berth via the access road, which is not a public road and is on the balance sheet of the OPP. When the security of the Odesa Port Plant stopped letting their vehicles through, the company organized a rally and blocked the access road to the strategic enterprise, which could have affected the loading of the plant's contractor vessels as part of the grain initiative.
"This should be handled by law enforcement," economic expert Borys Kushniruk told UNN, commenting on the blocking of the OPP.
The same opinion is supported by economic expert Andriy Novak. According to him, law enforcement and the Security Service of Ukraine should check the company that tried to block the work of the OPP.
Add
According to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, over the 9 months of the Ukrainian Corridor's operation, ports in the Black Sea region handled more than 50 million tons of cargo.
In particular, as clarified by the USPA at the request of UNN, from September 2023 to June 1, 2024, during the operation of the Ukrainian corridor, 611.8 thousand tons of cargo were transshipped at the Odesa Port Plant.
Recall
During the full-scale war, a number of enterprises reorganized their work on a military basis. Among them is "Odesa Port Plant", which joined the grain initiative in November 2022 and has since grown from a "beginner" in the industry to a significant player.