Ukraine has been exporting grain through a northern Croatian port for more than a year now, an official told AFP on 13 September, according to The Guardian.
About 100,000 tonnes of Ukrainian corn and wheat have been exported from northern Croatia’s Rijeka port since May 2022, according to Marino Klaric, the head of the facility’s grain terminal, AFP wrote. However, this is a mere fraction of the millions of tonnes of Ukraine’s annual grain production. The Ukrainian grain reaches Croatia by rail via Hungary.
The Rijeka port’s annual grain capacity is just one million tonnes to date, but officials are scrambling to expand it.
Earlier, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic reiterated Croatia’s pledge to increase the export of Ukraine’s grain through the country’s ports.
Ukraine’s agriculture sector has been under pressure since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, especially after Russia pulled out from a grain deal brokered by the UN and Türkiye to ensure safe navigation for civilian ships from and to the Ukrainian sea ports.
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