Media reports that Russian shipowners are suspending transportation to Ukrainian ports after detention of the Russian tanker “Mechanik Pogodin” in Kherson - evidence that official Kyiv has once again managed to strike a blow at its own economic interests.
This opinion was voiced to PolitNavigator by Ruslan Bortnik, director of the Ukrainian Institute of Policy Analysis and Management.
“What is happening will hit both Ukraine and Russia. Russian companies made money from transportation to Ukrainian ports, and the ports also made money - from port fees, from the fact that certain volumes of goods were transported through the ports.
Both sides will lose. But, since the size of the economies of both countries is different, the losses will also be different. The blow will be more sensitive to the Ukrainian port industry.
A significant part of the export of Ukrainian agricultural products, in particular sunflower oil, passed through Russian transport companies. Russian ships brought oil products here,” Bortnik explained.
The day before, Reuters sources said that a number of shipowners from Russia refuse to send ships to Ukrainian ports for fear of losing their cargo. Even those entrepreneurs who are not under sanctions refuse to send ships to Ukraine for fear of losing their cargo, two of the agency’s interlocutors said.