Ukraine and Finland address protecting agro‑exports and overcoming the maritime blockade

russia’s strikes on the ports of Greater Odesa pose risks to Ukraine’s grain exports and global food security. Already this autumn, Ukraine may face a shortage of storage capacity due to the closure of three deep‑water ports. To prevent crop losses and ensure the stability of agro‑exports, Ukraine and Finland held talks at the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian delegation was headed by Deputy Minister Denys Bashlyk. From the Finnish side, the meeting was attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Finland to Ukraine Tarja Fernández and Deputy Head of Mission Leena Saarikoski.

Given the possible shortage of grain storage facilities, the Ukrainian side outlined several critical needs to its Finnish partners. These include the provision of equipment for temporary on‑farm storage of grain, such as polymer sleeves; humanitarian demining of agricultural land to enable safe fieldwork; supply of agricultural machinery; development of alternative logistics routes; and technical assistance.

“Finland is a reliable partner of Ukraine, and its support is important both within humanitarian initiatives such as Food from Ukraine and in international organizations as well. Joint efforts to restore agro‑exports and provide Ukrainian farms with means of temporary crop storage will help Ukrainian farmers endure and guarantee stable food supplies worldwide,” said Denys Bashlyk.

For global food security, it is crucial to restore stable navigation and unhindered exports of Ukrainian grain as soon as possible. Finland, as an active member of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), confirmed its readiness to contribute diplomatically and technically to protecting international commercial shipping and to support initiatives aimed at unblocking Ukrainian ports.

The parties also agreed to expand bilateral cooperation in areas such as advanced agricultural processing, innovation, climate‑oriented farming, and attracting Finnish investment into the recovery of Ukraine’s agro‑industrial complex.