Greece has expressed its readiness to provide an alternative route for Ukrainian wheat and other grain products through its northern ports of Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis. This was reported by Kathimerini.


According to the publication, the proposal, made by Foreign Minister Yorgos Gerapetritis at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Kyiv on October 2, did not appear out of the blue, but reflects a plan that the government has already discussed with its EU partners and non-member states.


According to this plan, the products will be transported by rail through Romania and Bulgaria to the ports of Thessaloniki and Alexandroupoli. Greek merchant ships play a key role in this process, as they did before when exports were made through the Black Sea, Kathimerini reports.


However, it is worth noting that the capacity of the railway network in northern Greece is limited.


Implementation of this plan could also prompt accelerated rail modernization, including the line from Alexandroupolis to Ormenio, the last station before the border with Bulgaria, which is close to the Turkish border.


Gerapetritis emphasized to his EU counterparts that Greece is ready to contribute to the solution and emphasized the "huge consequences" of Russia's withdrawal from the grain deal, especially for the countries of the Global South.