While this grain shipment is a drop in the bucket, it is an attempt to gain support in Third World nations dependent on grain imports.
Russia has always tried to compete with Ukraine agriculturally.
German Agriculture Minister Cem Oezdemir reported Russian attacks on Ukraine’s grain infrastructure look like attempts to reduce the competition in Russia’s export markets.
Ukraine could lose tens of millions of tonnes of grain due to Russia’s blockade of Black Sea ports, triggering a food crisis that will hit Europe, Asia and Africa.
“We are repeatedly receiving reports about targeted Russian attacks on grain silos, fertilizer stores, farming areas and infrastructure,” Oezdemir told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. The suspicion is growing that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking “in the long term to remove Ukraine as a competitor.”
Russia denies targeting civilian areas.
Russia and Ukraine are traditionally major competitors in global grains markets. Global wheat prices have risen about 40% since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine cut supplies available on world markets from the Black Sea.
According to International Grains Council data, Ukraine was the world’s fourth-largest grain exporter in the 2020/21 season, selling 44.7 million tonnes abroad. The volume of exports has fallen sharply since the Russian invasion.
“With the increasing hunger in the world, Russia is seeking to build up pressure. At the same time, the massive increase in market prices is coming in handy for Russia because this brings new money into the country.”
“Ukraine must seek alternative transport methods. “Railway transport could be a method of exporting more grain, although with much effort and with limited capacity.”
Germany would seek to give assistance, he added.
Ukraine has been gradually expanding grain exports using land transport to the European Union. But the different rail track widths in Ukraine and the EU mean Ukrainian trains cannot automatically operate on the European rail network.