During the year of the agreement on the transportation of agricultural products from three Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, more than 32 million tons of food products were exported within its framework. The grain initiative has enabled the UN World Food Program to transport more than 725,000 tonnes of wheat to help people in need in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The UN notes that the partial recovery of Ukrainian sea exports thanks to the Initiative helped stop the sharp rise in world food prices, which reached record values shortly before the signing of the agreement. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations' food price index has shown consistent monthly declines over the past year, down more than 23% from its peak in March 2022.
In July 2022, when the grain deal was reached, the food price index was 140.6. Since then, it has declined by 11.%, reaching 122.3 points in June 2023. Over the same period, the grain price index fell by 14% from 147.3 points to 126.6 points.
The UN also noted that before the Russian invasion, Ukraine was one of the leading exporters of grain and the world's leading exporter of sunflower oil. Therefore, products from Ukraine should continue to flow freely to supply markets and help keep prices down.
The United Nations also cited data that as of July 2023, 80% of all wheat purchased under the World Food Program for the poorest countries was purchased from Ukraine.
We will remind that against the background of the blocking of grain exports from Ukrainian ports, Russia, the aggressor country, instead increased the volume of exports of agricultural products and thus its share on world markets.