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Ukraine’s Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solskyi has said that blocking the humanitarian maritime corridor through which ships export grain and other foodstuffs from Ukraine (the "grain corridor") will have negative consequences not only for Ukraine, affect global food security, and could provoke a significant increase in grain prices in the future, the CFTS portal reports.

"Grain prices are reacting negatively, and they will go up. We are very much hoping to work together with our partners to correct this situation," he said.

According to him, an increase in prices will be felt even by those countries that have never bought Ukrainian grain, and the food crisis could also worsen, primarily in the poorest countries of the world. Collapse of the deal will also be reflected in the domestic market. There is already a tendency to reduce the area of land under crop cultivation in Ukraine. Farmers sowed winter crops on approximately 40% less land this year, compared with last year.

"The grain corridor is important for the Ukrainian farmer because the future price of grain has increased, which has enabled farmers to cover costs and conduct future sowing," the minister said.

Solskyi added that 70% of Ukraine’s exports went through the humanitarian maritime corridor. Although Ukraine has significantly increased exports through alternative routes – through its borders with the EU – in recent months, stoppage of maritime exports threatens global food security, he said.