MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/. More than a thousand of various port infrastructure facilities have been damaged in the Greater Odessa area (the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny) and on the Danube River, the 'Obshchestvennoye.Novosti' portal said.

Deputy chair of the All-Ukrainian agrarian council, Denis Marchuk, said that Greater Odessa ports stopped loading grain on ships since July 22. Currently all cargo, including agricultural products, is being shipped via the Danube River and by land, but these alternative routes are not enough to transport everything.

Marchuk said that Ukraine can export up to 3 million metric tons of grain per month via alternative routes, but its agricultural sector needs to export twice as much in order to function normally.

"Excessive grain is becoming accumulated in the country, and purchasing prices for farmers have already declined by over 40%," Obshchestvennoye quoted Marchuk as saying.

He emphasized that this situation creates serious financial risks for farmers, including the lack of funds for the next sowing season and the risk of bankruptcy. Therefore, agricultural enterprises are now in talks about state support with the government, discussing loans, loan extensions and tax benefits. According to Marchuk, Ukraine may lose around $1 billion as a result of shrinking exports in all sectors, including agriculture.

On July 22, Ukrainian Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky announced that ship calls to Ukrainian ports had been suspended by carriers. Danish shipping company Maersk subsequently announced the redirection of cargo shipments to the Romanian port of Constanta. Following a series of explosions in the Odessa region, Ukrainian national railway operator Ukrzheldoroga began restricting cargo shipments to Odessa ports, while Swiss mining company Ferrexpo, whose main production facilities are located in Ukraine, suspended its Black Sea exports.