Nicolas Tonev (to Mikolaev), edited by Laura Laplaud
modified to
4:31 p.m., June 22, 2022
Ukraine is the world’s second largest wheat exporter. But for several months, millions of tons of grain have been stranded in ports. To export them, the only solution is to cross the Polish border by truck. The special envoy of Europe 1, Nicolas Tonev, is on site.
Major Ukrainian ports like Odessa, Mikolaev or Mariupol are paralyzed by the war in Ukraine. In total, millions of tonnes of cereals and oilseeds are awaiting export in the holds of ships, silos or sheds. While the whole world is waiting for these products, the only solution left to get them out of the country is a chain of trucks bringing the seeds north to the Polish border. Our special correspondent is on site.
The new door to export
The humming trucks are hundreds, all identical, on the road. A heavy metal tarpaulin semi-trailer is hitched to the tractor. The route is the same: from the south to the north-west of the country, the new export gateway. “Last week, I made two round trips from the Mykolaiv region to Lvov,” says Sacha, taking his break, slumped on his steering wheel.
“There are 1,000 kilometers to do, that’s at least 12 to 13 hours.” Sacha transports 25 tons of sunflowers on each trip. “It then leaves for Poland, Romania, always by truck or by train, but it is transferred into very large bags for transport. Me, I take it to Oujvarot, on the Polish border. It’s there that the goods are packaged in very large bags”, he explains.
A forced export that floods the roads with trucks
25 tons by 25 tons, teaspoons compared to the thousands of cubic meters of a grain cargo ship, but the drivers are happy to help the country. This forced export that floods the roads with trucks also fills their pockets. “The price of transport has increased four to five times. We earn a lot with this kind of transport. Before, for a trip, I took around 160 euros, now it’s at least double. With a full return, I brings back four times as much money”
The only negative point for truckers is that the price of fuel has more than doubled with the war.