Romania to increase grain transit capacity to help Ukraine
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced on Saturday that his country has assumed a key role in ensuring the transit of Ukrainian grain to international markets and will increase transport capacity.
“Romania has assumed a key role in ensuring the transit of Ukrainian grain to international markets, so that more than 60% of the total exports have been carried out through the transport corridors in our country. In the coming period, we aim to increase transport capacity, with the direct support of international partners and the European Union,” Ciolacu said in an online intervention at the International Summit in Kyiv on global food security.
According to a press release from the Romanian government, the prime minister stressed the essential role of Romania in facilitating the export of Ukrainian grain through the solidarity corridors created at the level of the European Union. He also reaffirmed Romania's solidarity with Ukraine and congratulated his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal, for the excellent level of cooperation aimed at expanding land, rail, river, and maritime connections between the two countries.
“The head of the Romanian executive condemned in the strongest terms the illegal and unjustified attacks of Russia in Ukraine, which constitute war crimes. He also condemned the Russian bombings in Ukraine in the vicinity of the border with Romania, which affected the infrastructure necessary for the transport of grain to international markets,” the press release said.
The international summit in Kyiv on global food security, now in its second edition, marks the importance of the humanitarian program "Grain from Ukraine," initiated in 2022 by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the source said.
Nearly 30 high-level officials, heads of state, government, and foreign ministers from European countries, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, the United Kingdom, representatives of the European Union institutions, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi, participated in the summit, either in person or online, to provide immediate support for global food security by ensuring the export of grain from Ukraine to international markets and in particular to the most vulnerable countries.
The summit participants agreed on the need to increase the export of Ukrainian grain to international markets, to coordinate efforts to address the food security crisis, and to support Ukraine in its efforts to rebuild its agricultural sector.
The summit also called for an end to the Russian war in Ukraine, which has disrupted global food production and supply chains.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
