Ukraine has exported 15 million metric tons of cargo through its Black Sea shipping corridor, including 10 million tons of agricultural goods, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.

Ukraine launched the corridor hugging the western Black Sea coast near Romania and Bulgaria in August shortly after Russia withdrew from a 2022 U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain export deal and threatened to treat all vessels as potential military targets.

"Over the five months of the corridor's operation, 469 new vessels have called at our Ukrainian ports for loading," Kubrakov said in a statement.

He said that currently, 39 ships were being loaded in the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi while 83 vessels had confirmed their readiness to call at the ports and export 2.4 million tonnes of various cargoes.

Ukraine, a major global grain grower and exporter, says its exportable grain surplus totals 50 million tons in the 2023/24 July-June season. It had exported 19.4 million tons of grain as of Jan. 8.