“We believe that there are about 22 million tons of grain withheld in Ukraine (due to the Russian invasion) pending its export,” Cavoli said in statements before the US Congress.
The Romanian port of Constanta is involved in the export effort, but its capacity is limited to 90,000 tons per day, said Cavoli, whose designation has not been confirmed by Congress to command US forces and thus NATO.
“But Deutsche Bahn recently responded to the appeal,” he added. “They created what they call the ‘Berlin Rail Bridge’, based on the model of the Berlin Air Bridge, to hold trains carrying Ukrainian wheat to Western Europe.”
He explained that the German railway company “is in the process of withdrawing huge quantities of grain from Ukraine at the present time, through Poland, towards ports in northern Germany, for export.”
“Poland has established a new border regime with Germany to facilitate” this process, he added.
He said production crossing Constanza is exported by sea, “but not through the besieged part of the Black Sea” by the Russians.
“I think it will be necessary to combine transportation” to continue facilitating Ukraine’s grain exports, he concluded.
Known for its very fertile land, Ukraine was, before the Russian invasion, the world’s fourth largest exporter of corn and was on track to become the third largest exporter of wheat.
But the Russian invasion disrupted crops and the grain trade, with Moscow officials accused of hampering exports across the Black Sea and causing a serious global food crisis.
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