Grain under blockade: What is preventing Ukraine from expanding exports via the Danube

With Black Sea ports under attack, Ukraine has shifted much of its agricultural exports to the Danube, where ports handled 45% of seaborne grain and oilseed exports in 2023. But waits to enter the river now exceed two weeks, partly because Ukraine's system for certifying barge and tugboat crews for international waterways is still not fully operational.

A trained worker cannot currently complete the full process, from exams to a Ukrainian qualification document recognized on European waterways, according to Romanian training official Andrei Brighidău. The river workforce has also shrunk due to mobilization, an aging labor pool, and departures to other professions, meaning that even available vessels and terminals sit underused for lack of certified crews.

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