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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia will intensify attacks on civilian vessels and port infrastructure in an attempt to disrupt the operation of Ukraine’s Black Sea grain corridor. According to him, the Ukrainian government anticipated such actions several months ago and therefore decided to restore a separate Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food to focus specifically on agricultural logistics and exports. “We understood this several months ago. They will do everything to block our grain corridor.

Pavlo Koval, Director General of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UAC), spoke on Ukrainian Radio about Europe's largest Field Days near Magdeburg, the emergence of a new technological model for European agriculture, the future transformation of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and Ukraine's role in this process.

— You recently attended the Field Days in Germany. What made this event particularly significant?

These are the largest agricultural field demonstrations in Europe, held every two years, alternating between eastern and western Germany. This year's event took place near Magdeburg. For me, it was an opportunity to see firsthand how Europe is building a new model of agricultural production.

The war in Ukraine, the escalating conflict in the Middle East, and accelerating climate change are increasingly affecting global food security. Today's challenges demonstrate that the stability of the global food market depends not only on agricultural production but also on resilient logistics, reliable critical infrastructure, and effective international cooperation.

This was emphasized by Pavlo Koval, Director General of the Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation (UAC), commenting to GlobalWatch on the growing risks facing the global agricultural sector.

According to Koval, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine marked a turning point for the global food supply system. The blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports in 2022 exposed the vulnerability of international food supply chains. The simultaneous surge in grain, energy, fertilizer, and transportation costs quickly affected markets across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

According to preliminary estimates by Oil World, global sunflower seed production in the 2026/27 marketing year could rise to 63.3 million tonnes, compared with 57.5 million tonnes in the previous season and an average of 56.2 million tonnes over the past five years. As a result, the market is moving closer to historic highs, driven by expansion in key producing countries.