Ukraine, seeking safer routes, is considering exporting grain by rail through Moldova and has asked Chisinau to consider lower freight rates, Reuters reports.
Ukraine’s sea export routes, including through a security corridor to Romanian ports, are increasingly under Russian attack. Sources in Ukraine and Moldova have reported that Kiev wants to transport grain by rail through Moldova to the Romanian port of Constanta and has asked for a 50% discount on the shipment. A high-level Ukrainian official told Reuters that information is currently being collected from potentially interested exporters and the process is not yet complete.
A source at Moldovan Railways said that Ukraine has asked for a discount on grain transportation, to which Chisinau has responded by offering to provide guarantees on the volume of Ukrainian grain that will be transported. The two sides are currently negotiating the terms and volume of grain transit. Former Moldovan Railways CEO Oleg Tofilat told Reuters that about 4.5 million tons of grain could be exported through Moldova annually.
Ukrainian estimates suggest that a functioning transit corridor could provide about 10% of the country’s total exports.
Ukrainian grain was already exported through Moldova in 2022-2023.
Moldovan Infrastructure and Regional Development Minister Vladimir Bolea visited the Odessa region in Ukraine on the 10th of August and discussed rail connections and broader transit cooperation with his Ukrainian counterpart.
Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotsky told Reuters on the 10th of August that the ministry had lowered its grain export forecast for 2026-2027 due to Russian attacks. The decline underscores the damage Moscow’s attacks have done to a country that exports more than 90 percent of its grain through its ports. Agricultural products make up the bulk of Ukraine’s total exports.
Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tofan said on the 10th of August that his country should not miss out on the opportunity to earn millions of euros in transit revenue from Ukrainian grain. He dismissed Moldovan farmers’ objections that the price of Ukrainian grain would allow them to outcompete their own, and urged them not to look for enemies where there are none.
Read also: Food rotting in closed stores as MERE crisis reaches 1.52 million euros