Donetsk, Apr 14 — DAN. Grain deliveries via the Mariupol seaport will be launched within the next few weeks, Donetsk People’s Republic Acting Head Denis Pushilin said after a meeting with officials on Friday.
“The first batches of grain will be sent via the Mariupol port within a week or two, ” Pushilin said on a video posted on his Telegram channel.
“To decrease logistics costs, grain will be loaded onto the vessels which bring construction materials to Mariupol, ” he said. Pushilin’s video shows him and Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev inspecting the locations for granaries. The officials considered installing a ground type grain warehouse with a capacity of 10,000 tons.
Earlier reports said that Patrushev, together with Pushilin, DPR Prime Minister Yevgeny Solntsev and Port Director Grigory Sobolevsky met in Mariupol to discuss the steps towards launching a grain terminal in the local port. The DPR plans to export part of its grain harvest. As an incentive for agribusinesses, the Russian government exempted DPR farmers from paying export duties on 143,000 tons of wheat and barley.*jk