MOSCOW, March 11. /TASS/. Ukraine has been unable to restore some terminals at its Black Sea ports and repairs to damaged infrastructure may take up to 15 months, Ukrainian Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Alexander Kubrakov said.

"Port infrastructure is destroyed on a regular basis. Not all terminals have been restored. There are some complicated terminals and complicated mechanisms that cannot be purchased from a nearby construction supermarket or be easily replaced," Kubrakov said in an interview with RBC Ukraine.

According to him, all this requires "if not years, then at least ten to 15 months to acquire equipment and carry out repairs."

The minister pointed out earlier that almost 200 Ukrainian port infrastructure facilities had been damaged since the termination of the Black Sea grain export deal in July 2023. Authorities in the Nikolayev and Odessa regions keep reporting damage to port infrastructure and weapons depots, while the government in Kiev is highlighting the need to boost air defenses in southern Ukraine.

However, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky noted earlier that the Kiev authorities had been using port facilities and grain depots for military purposes under the cover of the grain deal. Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said at a UN Security Council meeting on October 9, 2023, that Ukraine’s grain depots and port infrastructure facilities would be destroyed if it was found they were being used for storing ammunition and military hardware.