Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, confirmed on Tuesday 22 November in Strasbourg, during a question and answer session with MEPs on grain exports, that almost €1 billion will be invested in solidarity lanes with Ukraine by 2023.
Daniel Buda (EPP, Romanian) said that his country has ensured the transit of more than 65% of the grain exported from Ukraine to different parts of the world. “This situation has put a lot of pressure on the transport infrastructure and, at the same time, has created great difficulties for Romanian farmers”, he said.
On the ‘solidarity lanes’, Borrell said that the Commission’s budget will provide €250 million in grants to support and increase this capacity. “We will mobilise €1 billion by 2023, not from the European Union budget, as it is not big enough, but by using the European Investment Bank (EIB), which will lend €300 million for these projects”, he said. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will lend a further €300 million and the World Bank will provide €100 million to ensure liquidity for operators (see EUROPE 13062/4).
Replying to a question by Ignacio Sánchez Amor (S&D, Spanish) on the international agreement on the transport of Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea, Borrell said that four large grain ships had left Black Sea ports for Somalia. Of the tonnes of grain exported after the end of the blockade, 27% has gone to North Africa and 58% to Asia. The Russian claim that this grain is going to Europe is false, Mr Borrell affirmed.
Finally, he emphasised the need to strengthen the agricultural capacity of African countries and to provide them with fertilisers in the first instance. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)