Volume of transshipment at Ukraine's Black Sea ports reaches pre-crisis level in Dec-Jan - deputy restoration minister

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - The volume of transshipment at Ukraine's Black Sea ports in December 2023 and January 2024 reached levels seen previously before the crisis, Ukrainian Deputy Restoration Minister Sergei Derkach said.

"The Odessa ports are currently operating quite intensively. The export figures were about 6 million tonnes in December and January. In principle, these are quite big figures," Ukrainian media quoted Derkach as saying at a conference organized by the European Business Association on Wednesday.

The sea corridor unilaterally declared by Kiev has helped somewhat unload road border crossings, he said.

"The sea corridor has somewhat unloaded automobile routes, especially as concerns agricultural products, and we aren't having that long lines now," Derkach said.

Media reported earlier that Ukraine had exported nearly 22 million tonnes of products via the sea corridor since August 2023, and this volume could be further increased by a quarter.