Romania will increase its transit capacity for Ukrainian grain from two to four million tons per month.

As reported by Agerpres, Sorin Grindeanu, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Romania, made a statement regarding alternative transportation routes for Ukrainian grain after negotiations with representatives from the US, European Union, Moldova, Ukraine, and Romania.

"We agreed that the export of Ukrainian grain should be expedited in the context of the known attacks on Ukrainian ports Reni and Izmail in recent weeks. During these meetings, we emphasised the importance of Romanian ground, rail, and maritime transport routes to support the continuous flow of exports and imports to and from Ukraine," said Grindeanu.

He added that from a transportation perspective, the Sulina Channel on the Danube River is the only viable waterway for these shipments. So it's important to optimise the capacity of this route.

"It was an extremely good and productive meeting that will allow us, through the measures we will take, to increase the transit capacity of grain from Ukraine through Romania. This way, we can achieve a target of almost four million tons per month, up from the current two million tons," emphasized Grindeanu.

On 17 July, Russia announced the suspension of the grain agreement and threatened "risks" to the parties who decide to continue the initiative without the participation of the Russian Federation. 

Earlier, Luminița Odobescu, Romania's Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated that her country was searching for new ways to transport Ukrainian grain.

Read also the article by the EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, on how to bring Russia back into the "grain agreement."