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Ukraine farmer hopeful about export deal, but doesn’t trust Russia
A Ukrainian farmer says he’s hopeful that the export deal between his country and Russia will allow grain exports to return to prewar levels.
Kees Huizinga tells Brownfield the agreement only works if the Russians don’t violate it. “I don’t really believe the Russians, or I don’t believe them at all. But if they don’t breach it, then it means a lot to us and to Ukraine and to farming in general.”
He says the deal should address current challenges that farmers are facing when they transport grain. “It took us now 3 months now to sell it, 3 or 4 months. We brought a lot to Romania by truck. One-round trip by truck took one week for a distance of like only 400 miles.”
He says earlier in the war, the line to cross the border was 20 miles and now its around 2 miles.
But, Huizinga says, there are more important things to consider than exporting grain. “If we start doing concessions with the Russians, then they will keep on manipulating us with all of these actions of war. Blocking the sea, unblocking the sea, delivering gas, not delivering gas. We can’t have that and the most sustainable long-term solution is to chase the Russians out of Ukraine.”
Kees Huizinga:
Brownfield’s Meghan Grebner contributed to this story.
