Martin Frick said that about 4.5 million tonnes of grain in containers in Ukrainian ports could not be transported due to unsafe or busy sea routes, some of which had been mined, as well as inaccessible ports. “None of the grains can be used at the moment. “He is just sitting there,” Frick told the German news agency dpa. Ukraine is one of the leading producers of wheat in the world, as well as a major producer of corn. About 30 million tonnes of corn and about 25 million tonnes of wheat were harvested in the country in 2020, according to the UN. Many North African countries in particular depend on Ukraine to provide low-cost wheat staple foods. “People urgently need these foods from Ukraine,” Frick said. Despite the abundance of crops still available in Ukraine, the World Food Program (WFP) said that since the invasion began on February 24, it has had to provide food support to 2.5 million Ukrainians – the majority in Ukraine, too. . several hundred thousand in neighboring Moldova. “Food must reach those in Ukraine who are trapped and in need. “But at the same time, there is a need to provide food to other parts of the world that is waiting for Ukraine, in order to alleviate a global food crisis,” Frick said. Access to ports for both incoming and outgoing goods was blocked, he said. He added that he feared that food supplies were being used as a weapon in the conflict. “Hunger should not be used as a weapon, either militarily or financially,” he said. German Chancellor Olaf Solz has responded to the food crisis by vowing that Germany will intervene and help where there is food shortages as a result of the war, warning of the strong possibility of a global food crisis. “This war will have consequences, consequences all over the world,” he said on Sunday, addressing protesters who accused him of prolonging the war by sending weapons to the country. “Right now we have to worry about the fact that there are some people who will go hungry, that there are countries that can not afford their people and that this whole state of war could lead to a global hunger crisis.” Last week, the German government and DB Cargo, the logistics department of the national railway company, confirmed that they planned to allow about 20 million tonnes of blocked grain supplies and supplies to other parts of the country to leave the country. by rail. Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST The project, called “Getreidbrücke” or “grain bridge”, involves cooperation between the Ukrainian Railways and the national railway operators of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania to ensure a network of interconnected routes across Europe. “We are currently working on specific details on how exactly the grain bridge could be built,” Michael Theurer, parliamentary deputy minister at the Department of Transportation, told the financial newspaper Handelsblatt. Theurer said that setting aside the logistical challenges, among the sticking points of the plan forged by the Treasury Department was the way the measures were financed and the legal issues related to competition neutrality. Trains sent to Ukraine will also carry much-needed agricultural machinery, including tractors and spare parts, to support farmers sowing seeds for summer crops. The operation is an extension of DB Cargo’s “railbridge for relief aid” campaign, which began in March. Each train can carry 52 containers, amounting to several thousand tons of aid.
