Odesa strike shows it will not be easy to export grain via ports - Ukraine

FILE PHOTO: Firefighters work at a site of a Russian missile strike in a sea port of Odesa, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, Ukraine July 23, 2022. Press service of the Joint Forces of the South Defence/Handout via REUTERS

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine could export 60 million tonnes of grain in eight to nine months if its ports were not blockaded, but Russia's strike on the port of Odesa showed it will definitely not be that easy, an economic adviser to the Ukrainian president said on Sunday.

Ukraine could earn $10 billion by selling 20 million tonnes of grain in silos and 40 million tonnes from its new harvest, adviser Oleh Ustenko said. The harvest totals 60 million tonnes, of which 20 million are for domestic consumption, he said.