- Consular General Oleksii Sierkok said that the shipment was procured under the Black Sea Grain Initiative agreed upon by Ukraine, Turkey and the UN.
- Reiterated that even under Russian attacks, Ukrainian farmers are resolved to fulfill their obligations in supplying grain and other agricultural products.
Image: ONYANGO OCHIENG'
The port of Mombasa has received a second shipment of Ukrainian Wheat since Russia launche invasion against Ukraine in February 2022.
The Honorary Consulate of Ukraine in Mombasa on Saturday supervised the offloading of the 53,300 tons of wheat aboard the “Eaubonne” vessel meant for the commercial use in Kenya.
Addressing the media, the Consular General Oleksii Sierkok said that the shipment was procured under the Black Sea Grain Initiative agreed upon by Ukraine, Turkey and the UN on July 22, and joined by Russia.
“The initiative provides assurances regarding safe and secure environment for all vessels engaged in transporting grains and foodstuff from three Ukrainian ports,” Sierkov said.
“Keeping steady supply of Ukrainian wheat, corn, sunflower oil and other food products to markets all around the world is vital for the food security of the millions of people across all continents."
Sierkov said that as of November 21, a total of 483 ships with 11.6 million tons of Ukrainian grain and foodstuff were dispatched to the countries in Africa, Asia and Europe through the Black Sea ‘Grain Corridor.’
He said that during the G20 Bali summit held in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia on November 15 and 16, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a humanitarian programme “Grain from Ukraine” aimed at feeding at least 5 million people across the world by summer 2023.
“Under this initiative the government of Ukraine will donate 25 thousand tons of wheat to the people of Kenya. As announced by the Deputy President of Kenya Rigathi Gachagua, the donation will be distributed to counties severely affected by drought,” he said.
The consular general reiterated that despite suffering great humanitarian and economic losses from ongoing Russian aggression, Ukraine is determined to remain responsible guarantor of the global food security.
On October 18, the Ukrainian ambassador to Kenya Andrii Pravednyk was at the port to receiveo 51,400 tons of wheat aboard the vessel ‘Super Henry’ — the first consignment of Ukrainian wheat since the invasion.
Pravednyk promised that Ukraine will continue working with Kenyan authorities and commercial companies to bring more wheat to Kenya to fill the shortage occasioned by the war going on in their country.
“The war against Ukraine has affected about 25 per cent of the world cereal trade, caused an increase in world prices, food inflation, and reduced access to food in the countries that import food from Ukraine, in particular wheat and sunflower oil,” he said.
Ukraine is one of the world largest grain suppliers of wheat with the share in global trade around 10 per cent.
Pravednyk said that Ukraine is important to Kenya and asked the Kenyan government and public to speak in one voice demanding Russia to immediately stop its aggression and keep its commitments under the ‘Grain corridor’ to the safety of commercial vehicles operating in the Black Sea.
According to Ukrainian statistics, in 2021 Ukraine exported to Kenya a record 355.5 thousand metric tons of wheat worth $89.7 million.
Pravednyk said that the Russian occupiers had damaged approximately 4 million tons Ukraines grain storage capacity saying they had also seized up to 1 million tons of grain crops and sunflower oil at the estimated cost of $600 million.
He added that the total damage to Ukrainian agricultural sector is currently estimated at $4.29 billion as market experts forecast the production of grain in Ukraine in 2022 at the level of 65 million tons.
“The missiles strikes and shelling by Russian troops had damaged and destroyed dozens of farms, stocks of food and seed, silos, warehouses, oil depots, agriculture machinery and equipmenT," he said.
“At least 90 agribusinesses have been damaged in Ukraine and about 13 per cent of Ukrainian territory has been contaminated by Russian mines and explosive remnants of war."
He, however, reiterated that even under Russian attacks, Ukraine and Ukrainian farmers are resolved to fulfill their obligations in supplying grain and other agricultural products to those who need it the most.
“The crucial precondition is keeping our seaports unblocked and sea passages free to navigate,” the ambassador said.
Image: ONYANGO OCHIENG'