MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/. The loss of Ukraine’s foreign exchange earnings from the downtime of the ports of Greater Odessa, which has been going on for more than three months, amounted to about $6 billion, according to TASS calculations.
Commercial merchant ships continue to boycott the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhnoye; only vessels associated with the Ukrainian army enter them. Maritime trade is conducted through the Danube ports — Ukraine’s Izmail and Romania’s Constan·a, which together can potentially account for no more than a third of the exports that previously passed through the ports of Greater Odessa.
As a result, in September, Ukraine was able to export only 44% of the agricultural products planned for exports that month. Exports of metallurgical products ceased completely by the end of September. Together, these items accounted for about 65% of Ukraine’s exports and about $26 billion in foreign exchange earnings per year.
By using the railway network and the Danube ports for exports, Ukraine managed to partially reduce losses, but only slightly -- from about $70 million per day in August to about $60 million in September-October.
The idle time of Greater Odessa has been ongoing since July 22.