THOUSANDS more tonnes of grain and sunflower oil has left Ukrainian ports on four ships that have secured safe passage out of the war zone.

Following the successful journey of the first grain ship last week, several other vessels are on the move transporting the high demand grain to customers.

Food prices have escalated across the world since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, pushing numerous poorer nations to the brink of starvation.

Millions of tonnes of Ukrainian grain have been trapped in the country unable to be exported as the Russians had blocked the ports.

However, after tense negotiations between Ukraine and Russia a deal was agreed, brokered by the UN and Turkey, to allow the ships to start hauling goods again.

These latest ships left the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk and are bound first for Turkey, where they will be inspected, before travelling on to other final destinations Italy and China.

Ukrainian Agrarian Council deputy chairman Denys Marchuk said: “Ukraine has proved that it abides by its obligations. After the signing of the Istanbul Agreement, the first ship with 24,000 tons of corn has already passed through the green corridor.

“It was a good start. Another 16 ships, which could not go through the sea with the start of full-scale hostilities, are waiting for their turn. We plan to move through the green corridor, but then everything depends on our partners, in particular Turkey.

“As soon as they report that they are ready to accept new cargoes of Ukrainian agricultural products, the ships will leave,” he said.

Around 30% of this year’s harvest in Ukraine has already been completed, which is around 12 million tonnes of grain, but storage and export transport challenges still exist.

Denys added: "During this marketing year, it will be necessary to export 50 million tonnes. If the export does not fully work, then it will be necessary to ship the specified amount by alternative routes for three years.”

He also reported there is currently an initiative to open other seaports, in particular in the Mykolaiv region.

Referring to the grain storage, Denys said: "We lost part of the elevators during the full-scale war. Taking into account the need to preserve both the remains and the new harvest, the UAC from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy initiated the maximum involvement of alternative preservation mechanisms.

“As a result, taxation was abolished for alternative storage systems, in particular, polymer sleeves. After all, we expect a harvest at the level of 55 to 60 million tonnes of grain and oilseeds with domestic consumption of 20 million tonnes,” he said.