Kenya is set to receive donation of 25000 metric tonnes of wheat from Ukraine within the next month, a Ukrainian official has said.

Ukraine Ambassador to Kenya, Andri Pravednyk said Thursday in an interview with Capital FM News, that the loading of the ship destined for Mombasa at the port of Chornomorsk, east of Odessa is now on its final stages.

The Ukrainian envoy pointed out that if everything goes according to plan the ship will set sail from Ukraine to Kenya from tomorrow (Friday) morning.

“If everything goes smoothly, the ship will arrive at the port of Mombasa not later than the end of March. That will be our contribution to all those Kenyans affected by the serious drought in the North of Kenya,” he said.

The aid according to Ambassador Pravednyk is part of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “Grain from Ukraine” initiative announced in November last year while delivering his speech at the G20 Summit.

The initiative involves a humanitarian assistance program that provides part of the Ukrainian grain that is exported through the Black Sea Grain Initiative to countries affected by food insecurity.

Ambassador Pravednyk stated that he is well aware of the suffering by Kenyans living in the drought-hit counties as a result of food shortage.

“Critics might say that it is only 25000 tons of grain, but I am still convinced that although it is not a huge amount of grain, it will definitely help alleviate the suffering of those Kenyans living in areas affected by drought,” he added.

He thanked the Turkish government and the United Nations for brokering the deal that led to the creation of the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) which has facilitated the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
The JCC comprises representatives of Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations.

He noted that at the early stages of the war, Russia blocked ports in Ukraine and prevented them from exporting grain out of the country, until the deal was reached.

Despite the ongoing conflict, Pravednyk reassured that President Zelenskyy’s administration will continue supporting its allies whenever possible.