Last week, Russian troops shelled at least two large enterprises owned by international trading companies in the port of Mykolayiv.
For example, Canada’s Viterra and the U.S.-based Bunge Ltd. reported that missiles hit their port facilities, ProAgro Group reported, citing a publication in The Wall Street Journal.
In particular, Viterra said its terminal was on fire. The company, which is partly owned by commodities giant Glencore PLC, said there were no injuries, although one employee is being treated for burns. And Bunge said their oil plant, which has been closed since the Russian incursion, was damaged, with no casualties. For the company, this is the second attack on its assets in Ukraine.
The ports, which are under the control of the Ukrainian authorities, “are constantly bombed,” said Rustem Umerov, a member of the negotiating group between Ukraine and Russia.
The publication stresses that the attacks on Ukrainian export infrastructure come at a time when Russia says it is considering a United Nations-backed agreement on grain exports, so far blocked at Ukrainian ports. Turkish and U.N. diplomats are discussing a proposal to escort cargo ships through a safe passage among the defensive mines that protect Black Sea ports.
