Prospects to unblock Ukrainian seaborne exports have emerged, but too early to say when it could happen - deputy head of Zelensky's Office

KYIV. May 25 (Interfax) - Ukraine is actively discussing with different partners ways to unblock exports via the Black Sea, and certain prospects in this regard have emerged, but it is still too early to predict when these seaborne exports could restart, deputy head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Office Rostyslav Shurma said.

"There are now certain prospects that this issue could be resolved. However, we do not see any clear options for now when the Black Sea will be reopened. This is the current situation," Shurma said during a discussion at the Ukraine House in Davos on Tuesday evening.

Ukraine exports up to 150 million tonnes of goods, the majority of which - from 90 million to 100 million tonnes - are grain and other agricultural raw materials, he said.

"The capacity of the westbound railway accounts for only one-tenth of this amount. Projects that we are implementing today might allow us to double or triple its capacity. We need some time for that over a period of 3-6 months. But what does it mean? It means that 50-60-70 million tonnes of harvest will not be transported out of Ukraine," he said.

Warehouses are currently storing 20 million to 30 million tonnes of agricultural products intended for export, but this year's harvest will begin arriving soon, Shurma said.

It is possible to more or less enhance the transshipment capacity on the border within a year or so, but a more serious problem is European countries' lack of readiness for such volumes of export/import from Ukraine, he said.

"There is a major problem. It is the logistics capabilities of Europe itself: an enormous shortage of locomotives, carriages, cisterns and seaports' capacity," he said.

"And you cannot build another 5,000 carriages within a month. A plant's capacity is 5,200 carriages. That's why, you will need two years to build this number of carriages. You cannot build another 200 locomotives or electric locomotives in order to cope with all this. And this is a real problem," Shurma said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in turn, said it is unlikely that NATO would help unblock seaborne exports from Ukraine.

"I just don't seek all the stamina and the bravery to take all the risks associated with this operation," Kuleba said at the Ukrainian Breakfast in Davos, where the World Economic Forum is taking place on Wednesday.

Ukraine is looking for a solution to this problem, he said.

"We cannot allow the interruption of the agricultural cycle [in Ukraine], because that will mean a multi-year global food crisis," Kuleba said.