Kubrakov takes part in G7 Transport Ministers’ Meeting
"In fact, Ukrainian infrastructure is attacked every day, mostly by Iranian-made drones. In May alone, at least 400 Shahed were launched at Ukraine. In general, at least 1,200 combat drones have been launched at Ukraine since September of last year. Already now, the best Ukrainian specialists got united to find a countermeasure, and I know that the Ukrainians will surprise the world. Over the past two years, the volume of Ukraine’s export/import has almost halved — from 234 million tonnes in 2021 to 131 million tonnes in the war year of 2022," Kubrakov posted on Facebook.
Ukraine, an export-oriented country, was forced to completely reformat its logistics. Until February 24, 2022, almost 60% of all trade passed through seaports, but now the majority of export-import is transported by rail and trucks across our western border. This became a challenge for neighboring countries as well. Blocking agricultural exports by land against the backdrop of an unstable grain corridor could turn into a global food catastrophe, the Deputy PM noted.
"We see how many people in Africa and Asia experience the problem of hunger precisely because of Russia’s sabotage of the Grain Initiative. The world has not received more than 20 million tonnes of agricultural products at least during the entire existence of the agreement. This also affects world food prices, provoking inflation in almost every part of the world. The global metallurgical market, in which Ukraine was an important participant, also feels the negative impact," Kubrakov added.
He believes that global solutions and a clear strategy of international support for the development of alternative logistics routes are needed.
"We already have something to show and offer to international partners. First of all, we managed to turn the Danube port cluster into a powerful logistics hub in a short period of time. Thanks to the modernization of the port infrastructure, dredging near the berths, we managed to increase transshipment in the Danube ports 4.5 times — up to more than 15 million tonnes in 2022. In addition, we already have a "transport visa-free regime" with the European Union, we develop road and rail border infrastructure on our western borders. The key here is the European Union's Solidarity Lanes program, thanks to which we manage to systematically boost our logistic potential," the government official noted.
He underscored that Ukraine needs political, financial, advisory and material support from allies. The existing situation is not able to meet the demands of the global economy, and therefore the world should invest in Ukrainian logistics.
