Grain from Zaporizhzhya being supplied to Middle East - interim administration head

MOSCOW. June 8 (Interfax) - Russian-held territories of the Zaporizhzhya region are supplying grain to the Middle East, head of the Zaporizhzhya interim military-civilian administration Yevgeny Balitsky said.

"We are sending grain through Russia, and primary contracts are signed with Turkey. The first trains have departed through Crimea for the Middle East," Balitsky said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 television channel (VGTRK). "It was a traditional market for Ukraine," he added.

Almost 80% of the Zaporizhzhya region's territory has passed under Russian control, Balitsky said. "Crops are being sown or harvested on the territory under my jurisdiction as the head of the civilian administration, if not as usual then in a way that allows people to do their jobs on the ground," he said.

Besides exports, crops will be processed locally, Balitsky said. "We will definitely export a substantial amount, and will process the rest into oil or flour," he said.