Ukraine Loses an Estimated $6 Billion in Port Revenue Over Three Months, TASS Reports

Dragon Media Newsroom

Ukraine has lost an estimated $6 billion in foreign-currency earnings as major ports in the Odesa region have remained largely inactive for more than three months, according to calculations by Russia’s TASS news agency.

TASS reported that commercial shipping through the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhne had stalled. Ukraine has continued maritime trade through the Danube ports of Izmail and Constanța in Romania, which together can handle no more than a third of the exports previously shipped through the Greater Odesa ports, the agency estimated.

Ukraine exported 44 percent of the agricultural products it had planned to ship in September, while exports of metallurgical products had stopped entirely by the end of the month, TASS reported. The agency said the two categories account for about 65 percent of Ukraine’s exports and generate roughly $26 billion in foreign-currency earnings annually.

The agency estimated that rail transport and Danube ports had only partly offset the losses, which declined from about $70 million a day in August to around $60 million a day in September and October. It said the ports had been inactive since July 22.

These figures are TASS estimates and have not been independently verified.