Ukraine, UK agree mechanism to make grain corridor more accessible to exporters

Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal announced this at a government meeting on November 14.

He thanked the Ukrainian military, which made the launch of the temporary Black Sea corridor possible, and confirmed that 100 ships with grain had passed through this route. They have exported more than 3.7 million tonnes of products from Ukrainian ports.

"Free navigation in the Black Sea is a strategically important area. As a result of the agreements between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak, Ukraine and a pool of British insurance companies have set up a special mechanism. It allows for a discount on the cost of war risk insurance for exporters of all products from Ukraine. This will make the Black Sea corridor more accessible to a wider range of exporters," Shmyhal said.

Information on the grain corridor

On 17 July, Russia announced the termination of the grain deal. In response, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that it was necessary to continue using the grain corridor even despite Russia's withdrawal from the agreement. 

On August 4, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov said that Ukraine would send ships with its own grain to wherever it deems necessary and would not ask anyone for permission.

On August 10, the Ukrainian Navyannounced a temporary humanitarian corridor for merchant ships sailing to and from Ukrainian ports.

On August 12, Ukraine opened the registration of merchant ships and their owners who are ready to use temporary routes to Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea.

On August 16, the first vessel left the port of Odesa after Russia announced that it would terminate the grain deal on July 16, 2023.

In September, Ukraine exported 3.6 million tons of agricultural products. At the same time, almost 700,000 tons of grain have been exported since the launch of the new grain corridor, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

On October 26, media reported that the grain corridor had allegedly been temporarily shut down, but the Ministry of Infrastructure denied the rumors, noting that Ukrainian ports continue to handle ships.