Despite the war, foreign business continues to invest in Ukrainian grain infrastructure. In particular, the Swiss company Harvest Commodities invested in the construction of its own grain warehouses in the Port of Izmail. This has been reported by Harvest Commodities investor Nils Troost to Censor.net. The company has invested in construction of the warehouses in order to create a vital modern infrastructure in the region to support the growth of grain exports from this new trading hub on Danube River.
"Our investments in local infrastructure and logistics not only create jobs and bring foreign currency to the region, but also ensure that grain from Ukraine will continue to play an important role in providing food to consumers in third world countries, including Africa," says Troost.
At the same time, foreign business confirms that grain from Ukraine has become important both for business support and for providing countries that need grain. Despite the war and Russian attacks, the "Grain from Ukraine" initiative turned out to be one of the success stories of 2023. This became possible thanks to the cooperation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, state institutions and foreign business. According to Harvest Commodities investor Nils Troost, "we have a full confidence in this project and immediately agreed to be among the first to cooperate with our Ukrainian partners." In particular, two Harvest Commodities vessels - M/V Riva Wind and M/V Arizona - were among the first to successfully leave the port of Odesa as part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in August 2022. They delivered 110,000 tons of grain to world markets.
In total, since 2021, the company has exported more than 350,000 tons of Ukrainian grain to Turkey, Egypt, China, Italy, Georgia and Croatia, providing access to world markets for both the "State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine" and private agricultural producers.
More information about the Ukrainian grain corridor - in article"An important victory in the great war: How did Ukraine manage to create a "Grain Corridor" without Russia?".