Trucks wait for crossing into Poland at the Rava-Ruska border checkpoint in Ukraine’s Lviv region on April 17, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Roman Baluk)

Bans on Ukrainian grain imports mount as Kyiv seeks transit deal

Poland, Hungary ban imports; Slovakia follows

Kyiv/Rava-Ruska, Ukraine | Reuters — Slovakia on Monday joined Poland and Hungary in banning grain imports from Ukraine as even Kyiv’s staunchest allies come under domestic pressure to shield their agriculture markets. The heat is mounting on Brussels to work out a European Union wide solution after Warsaw and Budapest announced bans on some imports


Ukrainian farmers are surviving the invasion, now it’s time to rebuild for the 2023 growing season.

From Ukraine: Farmer struggles after Russians driven back

Yuriy Zayikin lived under Russian fire for close to a year, now plans to rebuild

Yuriy Zayikin has had a front row seat to the war in Ukraine. And at times he’s been forced onto the stage. He farms in the southern Kherson region. At one point 95 per cent of the area was occupied by invading Russian forces. Just five per cent remained under control of Ukraine, which is where Zayikin was ‘lucky’ enough

A vessel is seen arriving at Odesa in southern Ukraine under the Black Sea Grain Initiative on April 12, 2023. (Photo: Yulii Zozulia/Nurphoto via Reuters Connect)

Russia says Black Sea grain deal may be nearly over

Ukraine and UN to blame for backlog of ships, Russia alleges

Moscow | Reuters — Russia on Thursday said there would be no extension of the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal beyond May 18 unless the West removed a series of obstacles to the export of Russian grain and fertilizer. The Ukraine grain Black Sea export deal was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in


Commercial vessels  –including vessels which are part of the Black Sea grain deal — wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey on Oct. 31, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas)

Outlook for Black Sea grain deal ‘not so great,’ Kremlin says

Grain deal due to expire next month; Russia wants financial, insurance obstacles removed

Moscow | Reuters — The Kremlin on Wednesday said the outlook for the landmark U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal was not great as promises to remove obstacles to Russian exports of agricultural and fertilizer exports had not been fulfilled. The grain deal is an attempt to ease a food crisis that predated the Russian invasion

Grain farmer Oleksandr Klepach points at trenches in his field, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Snihurivka, southeast Ukraine.

Facing minefields and cash crunch, Ukraine farmers to sow smaller crop

As spring draws nearer, the farmers of this global breadbasket face growing challenges

Facing fields full of mines and short of cash, many Ukrainian farmers are likely to sow a smaller area this spring than they did following Russia’s invasion, in what could be a further blow to global food supplies after disruptions last year. Ukraine is a major supplier of wheat and corn to world markets. Production


A combine harvests wheat in a field near the village of Zghurivka, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region on Aug. 9, 2022.

War pushes grain supplies into danger territory

ANALYSIS | Patchwork fixes to Ukraine grain shortfall leave world vulnerable a year into war

A patchwork of fixes and increased crop plantings around the world to counter the impact of war in Ukraine on global grain supplies are not enough to ward off further risks of disruption. Extensive damage to Ukraine’s farm sector and uncertainty that the United Nations’ grain export corridor deal will be renewed this month suggest

Commercial vessels  –including vessels which are part of the Black Sea grain deal — wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey on Oct. 31, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas)

Insurers covering Ukraine grain corridor shipments for now

More clarity needed soon, Lloyd's exec says

London | Reuters — Insurers continue to cover grain shipments from Ukraine through a United Nations-backed corridor although more clarity will be required soon, a senior Lloyd’s of London official said on Thursday, after the export accord was renewed for at least 60 days. The deal allowing the safe wartime export of Ukrainian grain from


A sapper of the State Emergency Service inspects an area for mines and unexploded shells in Ukraine's Kharkiv region on March 21, 2023.

Editor’s Take: A season of uncertainty looms

The world is once again facing a growing season in the Northern Hemisphere that’s shrouded in uncertainty. A little uncertainty is nothing new, but over the past few years, things have reached a whole new level. As you’ll read on pages 6 and 7 of this issue, few unknowns are larger than what’s going to

Commercial vessels  –including vessels which are part of the Black Sea grain deal — wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey on Oct. 31, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas)

U.S. pushes back against Russian demands linked to Ukraine grain deal

Russian food, fertilizer already carved out from sanctions, U.S. says

United Nations | Reuters — The United States pushed back on Russian demands that Western sanctions be eased before it allows Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports beyond mid-May, saying there were no restrictions on Russian agricultural products or fertilizer. Moscow’s demands include allowing the Russian Agricultural Bank to return to the SWIFT banking system and