Ukraine plans to increase its export capacities by 50%

Ukraine hopes to increase its export capacity by 50% in the next few months by expanding capacity on its western border. But this is still far from the pre-war level, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Yuriy Vaskov said.

Report informs via RBC-Ukraine that more than ten seaports handled 75% of Ukraine's foreign trade, but they were closed after the Russian invasion, and the country was forced to trade through the small Danube river ports and use rail terminals on its western border.

"Western borders and Danube ports today are the only way for exports and imports. We have already quadrupled the trade through the Danube ports," Vaskov told a press conference.

According to him, 3.5 million tons of cargo were transported by rail across the western borders last month alone, and national railway operators are developing border terminals for cargo, as well as transshipment from broad gauge to narrow gauge and vice versa.

"As a result, the capacity of the western border should increase by 50% in the coming months. But even this will not be enough to serve at least half of the volumes transported through seaports in peacetime," he said.

Ukraine, the world's major grain producer and exporter, has drastically reduced its grain exports since the start of the Russian hostilities to around 1 million tons in April from 6 million tons before the war.