BRUSSELS, 13 May 2022, (TON): As part of the EU’s solidarity response w-ith Ukraine, the Commission presented a set of actions to help Ukraine export its agricultural produce.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its blockade of Ukrainian ports, Ukrainian grain and other agricultural goods can no longer reach their destinations.

The situation is threatening global food security and there is an urgent need to establish alternative logistics routes using all relevant transport modes.

With today’s Communi-cation, the Commission sets out an action plan to establish ‘Solidarity Lanes’ to ensure Ukraine can export grain, but also import the goods it needs, from humanitarian aid to animal feed and fertilisers.

Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean said “20 million tonnes of grains have to leave Ukraine in less than three months using the EU infrastructure. This is a gigantesque challenge, so it is essential to coordinate and optimise the logistic chains, put in place new routes, and avoid, as much as possible, the bottlenecks.”

In spite of immediate efforts by the EU and its Member States to ease border crossings between Ukraine and the EU, thousands of wagons and lorries are waiting for clearance on the Ukrainian side.