The Ukrainian Federation of Employers in the Transport Industry has called for the complete unblocking of Ukraine's ports without Russian influence on Ukraine’s trade and an appeal to foreign partners to provide all the weapons necessary to forcefully suppress Russian terrorist and pirate attacks on commercial ships heading to Ukrainian ports, the CFTS portal reports.
The federation believes that the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which established a humanitarian maritime corridor to allow ships to export grain and other foodstuffs from Ukraine, is insufficient and imperfect in the format in which it existed as of June-July 2023. According to the federation, Russia determines and controls what, how much, and in what order Ukraine can export from its seaports under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which creates a misleading legal appearance that Ukraine has voluntarily abandoned maritime exports of other goods and undermines Ukraine's economy.
According to the federation, Ukraine has lost at least 10% of its GDP, USD 18 billion in foreign-exchange earnings, 500,000 jobs, and UAH 135 billion in taxes because of the restrictions on the range of cargoes that can pass through its ports.
"The existing mechanism leads to a deterioration in relations between Ukraine and its closest EU neighbors - Ukrainian farmers cannot export the necessary share of products by sea and are forced to export more products to the markets of neighboring countries, causing additional tension there," the federation said.
According to the federation, the established procedure for the passage of ships under the Black Sea Grain Initiative means a significant increase in the cost of maritime transport (long waits for ships to pass through the Bosporus and long storage periods in ports), which ultimately leads to a reduction in the purchase prices of agricultural products, dealing another blow to Ukrainian farmers and agricultural enterprises.
"Because of the format of the grain deal, the Russian Federation has essentially legalized the ‘law of piracy’ at sea and gained unprecedented rights to fully control a sovereign state’s foreign trade in the Black Sea, as well as supervisory functions in the Bosporus Strait, for which the Montreux Convention makes no provisions. The international community has witnessed brazen piracy in action and, unfortunately, it has de facto accepted this state of affairs. Now, the aggressor country is trading freely and earning tens of billions of dollars from maritime exports to foreign markets, which allows it to buy weapons and finance its war of aggression against Ukraine. At the same time, a peaceful country defending its independence is under a naval blockade," the federation said.
The federation also emphasized that Ukraine should not limit itself to exporting grain, which accounts for only 40% of its ports’ export cargo base before the war.
"We have several industries that have lost their export markets or cannot secure imported raw materials because Ukraine was allowed to trade only in grain. Without ports or by exporting only grain, Ukraine will be unable to build a robust economy, which is necessary to defeat the enemy. It is time to talk about unblocking Ukrainian ports completely," the Federation said.
In particular, the federation called for the following steps: declare that the only possible format is complete unblocking of Ukraine’s ports, without Russia influencing what Ukraine trades in, and defend it; appeal to foreign partners to provide Ukraine with all the weapons necessary to enable forceful suppression of Russian terrorist and pirate attacks on free commercial shipping to Ukrainian ports; significantly increase the international community’s sanctions pressure on Russia as part of an effort to fight piracy and terrorism in the Black Sea region.
The federation also called for measures to strengthen the defense sector and ensure the safety of ships in the Black Sea region to deter military aggression and create a safe environment for shipping.
“The proposed measures should include comprehensive monitoring, missile defense, detection and disposal of sea mines, implementation of the ‘Procedures for Providing Guarantees of Compensation for Damage Caused to Ships by the War’ that the government recently approved, and the creation of a mechanism for commercial risk insurance with the participation of foreign partners and in partnership with international organizations (an insurance fund),” the federation said.
As the CFTS portal reported previously, Ukraine is establishing a temporary maritime route for shipping grain following Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The additional route that Ukraine is establishing will lead to the territorial waters and exclusive maritime economic zone of Romania, which is a NATO member.
