Ukraine's agricultural export earnings to fall by 16 pct this year

KIEV, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine's agricultural export earnings will decrease by 16 percent this year to 23.3 billion U.S. dollars, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported Tuesday, citing an industry body.

The Ukrainian Agribusiness Club said that the supplies of Ukrainian grain abroad decreased sharply in the first months of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, affecting the full-year export figures.

Since the Black Sea grain export deal, which unblocked the supplies of food stuffs via Ukrainian seaports, came into effect on Aug. 1, Ukraine's agricultural exports have been gradually recovering.

In 2022, such items as corn, sunflower oil, wheat, rapeseed and sunflower seeds were the biggest contributors to Ukraine's agricultural export earnings.

Earlier this month, Ukraine's Economy Ministry said the agricultural sector suffered direct losses of 6.6 billion dollars due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.