Ukraine’s agriculture exports from Odesa-region seaports have reached 14.3 million tons since August, when a new Black Sea shipping corridor was set up. 

The war-torn nation is pressing ahead with the shipment of commodities, mostly grains, after Russia last summer pulled out of a safe-transit agreement brokered a year earlier by Turkey and the United Nations. 

Total shipments via the corridor in the Black Sea patrolled by Ukraine’s troops topped 20 million tons, Ukraine’s Ministry for Restoration said on its Telegram channel, citing the Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov.

Shipments in January alone were 6.3 million tons, almost on par with the pre-war level, with more than 100 vessels expected to approach the seaports to export another 3 million tons.   

Several dozen firms are now using the passage, including large international traders, the ministry said in December.