Ukraine could export 60 million tons of grain in eight to nine months if its ports were not blockaded, but Russia's strike on the port of Odessa showed it will definitely not be that easy, an economic adviser to the Ukrainian president said on Sunday, Reuters reported.

Ukraine could earn $10 billion by selling 20 million tons of grain in silos and 40 million tons from its new harvest, adviser Oleh Ustenko said. The harvest totals 60 million tons, of which 20 million are for domestic consumption, he said.
"If the ports were unblocked now and we say we need to move 60 million tons of grain... then we would transport 60 million tons of grain within eight-nine months," he said.
"But with the way they are opening now and what Russia is doing in the Black Sea, yesterday's strike shows that it definitely won't work that way," he said.
Ukraine will need 20 to 24 months to export those volumes if its ports are not functioning properly, Ustenko added.