Ukraine has expressed readiness to establish grain hubs in Nigeria and other African countries as it donated about 25,000 tonnes of grains to Nigeria to boost bilateral ties.

Ukrainian Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solskyi announced this on Tuesday in Abuja when he led a delegation that met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama.

Mr Solskyi said the grains from Ukraine would arrive in Nigeria in February under the initiative ‘Grains from Ukraine’, and that despite the war with Russia, the Ukrainian food industry wanted to have closer relations with Nigeria, adding, “we are very thankful to you that your country is ready to develop the relations.”

“Despite all the events going on in the world, our countries are ready to develop this cooperation. The Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian president are ready to pay a lot of attention to this development,” Mr Solskyi explained. “We want to have regular contact every year, not only by our agriculture ministers but other ministers as well.”

The Ukrainian minister added, “Development of such hubs will make it possible to bring in high-quality grains into your country, and it will influence prices positively. Ukraine intends to develop two or three hubs in Africa, and taking into consideration the capacity of your country, the grain hub in your country is priority number one. If we implement it well, it would be a practical step towards our business relations reaching a new level.”

Mr Onyeama, who empathised with Ukraine over its ongoing war with Russia, also lauded it for the grain donation, pointing out that the gesture was coming even when the country was still at war.

“Notwithstanding the situation in which your country finds itself, you are able to extend a hand of friendship not just to Nigeria but to other African countries,” stated the foreign minister. “This demonstrates superhuman courage, and we really admire your generosity and we thank you for this support.”

(NAN)