The success of Ukraine's new Black Sea export corridor has led to a sharp increase in the number of rail wagons heading to ports in the Odesa region, a senior railways official has said.
In a post on Facebook Valeriy Tkachov, deputy director of the commercial department at Ukrainian Railways, said over the last week the number of grain wagons heading to Odesa ports increased by more than 50% from 2,676 to 4,032.
Ukraine launched a "humanitarian corridor" in August for ships bound for African and Asian markets to try and circumvent a de facto blockade in the Black Sea after Russia quit a deal that had guaranteed Kyiv's seaborne exports during the war.
More than 700,000 metric tons of grain have left Ukrainian ports via the new route since August, with Ukraine's first deputy farm minister saying last week that grain shipments through the new corridor may exceed one million metric tons in October.
