They see Russia’s bombing of the Nika-Tera port facility in the southern city of Mykolaiv on June 4 as just the most spectacular example of a broader assault on a pillar of Ukraine’s economy. – and worldwide.
“Agriculture is one of the few industries that works… Of course they want to destroy it. They want to end this flow of income in the country,” farmer Volodymyr Onyschuk told AFP. a pile of Russian shell casings on his 2,000 hectare wheat and sunflower farm near Mykolaiv.
Crops will be vulnerable to fires caused by shelling, he added, and it could be “hell” for farmers when the harvest season begins in the coming weeks.
Asked how farmers in Mykolaiv plan to reduce their exposure to Russian equities, he replied: “Just let us survive until the next harvest.”
Since Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine, the world’s fourth-largest grain exporter, kyiv has repeatedly accused Russia of attacking infrastructure and agriculture to cause a global food crisis and put pressure on the West. .
Moscow, which describes its war as a special military operation, accuses Western sanctions and sea mines laid by Ukraine of being responsible for the fall in food exports and the rise in world prices.
HARBOR ATTACK
Five shells hit a cluster of warehouses and grain conveyor belts at the Nika-Tera plant, rendering one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural terminals unable to load or unload ships, local officials said.
The explosions started an intense fire in the sunflower meal warehouses. These were still smoldering during a brief press visit on Sunday. The other grain silos on the site were not affected.
“They are trying to undermine food security all over the world,” said Georgy Reshetilov, first deputy head of the military regional administration in Mykolaiv.
Agricultural facilities in the region suffered losses estimated at 34 billion hryvnias ($1.16 billion), he added. The affected sites include a large tomato pulp producer and a large number of farms.
The bombings are fueling fear in an area already paralyzed by Russia’s blockade of the Black Sea, the main route to Ukraine’s vast agricultural exports.
Combine harvester operators are reluctant to bring their equipment into the area, fearing shelling along the roads and the possible presence of mines and munitions in the fields, farmers say.
Some grain traders are even reluctant to buy stock from farmers, fearing liability if their storage facilities are subsequently attacked.
“No one can guarantee the safety of this harvest in time of war”, declared Mr. Reshetilov.
Fertilizer supplies are running low and, with no buyers for grain exports, farmers said they would struggle to find funds to purchase more supplies, even if they were available. available.
“Fuel has gone up. Fertilizer prices are insane. I don’t know how we’re going to work next year,” said Valentyn Matviyenko, who runs a farm near Bashtanka, about 60 kilometers northeast of the city. from Mykolaiv, where some lands are covered by Russian artillery.
Some traders are offering prices for wheat that are a third of pre-war highs, he added.
“Our financial resources are dwindling. We have put everything into this harvest,” he said.
SEA BLOCKADE
Few in the region remain hopeful that diplomatic efforts will unblock the Black Sea. According to them, some convoys of ships would not even affect the export volumes, and it is not economical to send the same cereals by road.
Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych told Reuters that additional grain storage in Mykolaiv and its surroundings had been ruled out due to the risk of shelling. Instead, the focus is on building facilities closer to the Romanian border, where river transport is an option.
The regional administration has declared that it is considering municipal and communal rather than private storage. The national government, meanwhile, is seeking to simplify export procedures and offer farmers interest-free loans.
Some are skeptical of state intervention: “The best help from the government is to do nothing…the companies will find a way to export the grain,” said Mayor Senkevych.
After spraying fertilizer on a field of young sunflowers, Vasyl Boyko, 38, a tractor driver, said he doesn’t think a solution will be found unless Ukraine pushes back Russian forces and the West does not open trade corridors in the Black Sea.
“We don’t need words, we need weapons,” he said.
($1 = 29.2500 hryvnias)