Finland to help transport Ukrainian grain

Finland will support the grain shipments of the World Food Program (WFP) from Ukraine to Somalia.

The Finnish Foreign Ministry said this in a press release, Ukrinform reports, citing Yle.

Finland will increase its humanitarian assistance to the Horn of Africa, where more than 20 million people are in need of urgent food aid. The countries of the Horn of Africa are particularly dependent on grain imports from Russia and Ukraine, which is why Russia's invasion of Ukraine has such a devastating impact on the region.

According to the ministry, Finland is allocating EUR 15.7 million in humanitarian assistance to the region. From that sum, nearly EUR 7 million will be channeled through the WFP to help facilitate the transport of Ukrainian grain to Somalia.

"It is critically important that the shipping of grain from Ukraine to the Horn of Africa can continue. We support the World Food Program in this," said Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.

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Finland's humanitarian assistance is delivered by the UN Refugee Agency (UNCHR), the Finnish Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The Initiative on the Safe Transportation of Grain and Foodstuffs from the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi (also known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative) was signed in Istanbul on July 22.