Kyiv says EU transport subsidies to help Ukrainian grain export

KYIV, Aug 23 (Reuters): The European Commi-ssion's decision to compensate for the costs of delivering Ukrainian grain to European seaports will improve the ability to export Ukrainian food without interruption, a senior Ukrainian official said on Tuesday.
Ukraine is a major grain grower and exporter and normally ships millions of metric tons of food from its deep-water Black Sea ports of Odesa and Mykolaiv.
However, it has had to rely on river ports and railways after Russia pulled out last month of an UN-brokered deal to secure global grain supplies while top exporters Ukraine and Russia remain at war.
Ukraine has said it can supply grain to seaports of Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia, Slovenia and the Netherlands for further export to final destinations across the world.
"It is impossible to guarantee global food security without Ukrainian grain," Taras Vysotskiy, the first deputy Ukrainian agriculture minister said in a statement.
He said that due to the blocked Black Sea ports, transporting Ukrainian grain to distant European ports had become very expensive for farmers.