--- title: Ukraine’s Growing Fuel Crisis Will Cause Global Hunger description: Ukraine's farmers face a deep crisis as they don't have diesel fuel for their machines and planting season is only weeks away. What this means for global food prices and worsening inflation canonical: https://time.com/6157236/ukraines-fuel-crisis-cause-global-hunger-worsen-inflation/ author: Suriya Jayanti article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-03-15T06:00:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:51:43.215Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Ukraine’s Growing Fuel Crisis Will Cause Global Hunger and Worsen Inflation og:description: Ukraine's farmers face a deep crisis as they don't have diesel fuel for their machines and planting season is only weeks away. og:url: https://time.com/6157236/ukraines-fuel-crisis-cause-global-hunger-worsen-inflation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5ea9067f4c56a0d/698a2fea86f68e709b6f1013/GettyImages-1385226268.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Ukraine Prepares To Defend Odessa From Expected Russian Advance og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ukraine’s Growing Fuel Crisis Will Cause Global Hunger and Worsen Inflation twitter:description: Ukraine's farmers face a deep crisis as they don't have diesel fuel for their machines and planting season is only weeks away. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5ea9067f4c56a0d/698a2fea86f68e709b6f1013/GettyImages-1385226268.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ukraine’s Growing Fuel Crisis Will Cause Global Hunger and Worsen Inflation ## Video: Ukranian President Says His Country Won't Forgive Russia for Killing Unarmed People [Watch (HLS stream): Ukranian President Says His Country Won't Forgive Russia for Killing Unarmed People](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YeHTU25c.m3u8) (0:43)  _Published 2022-03-07. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Ukraine will not forgive Russia for all the victims and suffering the war it started had caused._ by [Suriya Jayanti](https://time.com/author/suriya-jayanti/) ## Suriya Jayanti Mar 15, 2022 6:00 AM UTC  People walk among anti-tank barriers placed to protect historic landmarks in expectation of a Russian assault on the strategic Black Sea port city on March 14, 2022 of Odessa, Ukraine. People walk among anti-tank barriers placed to protect historic landmarks in expectation of a Russian assault on the strategic Black Sea port city on March 14, 2022 of Odessa, Ukraine.Scott Peterson-Getty Images by [Suriya Jayanti](https://time.com/author/suriya-jayanti/) ## Suriya Jayanti Mar 15, 2022 6:00 AM UTC Farmers in Ukraine, the [breadbasket](https://emerging-europe.com/business/ukraine-the-breadbasket-of-europe/) of Europe, have run out of fuel. Two weeks into Russia’s assault on Ukraine supply chains are disrupted and a critical shortage of fuel for tractors and trucks is pushing Ukraine’s agricultural sector toward collapse. If it does not secure diesel soon, Europe could face massive price spikes for agricultural commodities and challenging food shortages. As has been widely reported, Ukraine is a major agricultural powerhouse. Between [2018 and 2020](https://www.ifpri.org/blog/how-will-russias-invasion-ukraine-affect-global-food-security), it produced 49.6% of global sunflower oil, 10% of global wheat, 12.6% of global barley, and 15.3% of global maize. Ukraine is also a top producer of eggs, potatoes, rye, other grains, and even cheese. For Europe, Ukraine in a given year is either the [third](https://emerging-europe.com/business/ukraine-the-breadbasket-of-europe/) or fourth biggest source of agricultural imports. According to [Nazar Bobitski](https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-the-food-factor-energy-trade-war-agriculture-market/), head of Ukraine’s Business and Trade Association in Brussels, Ukraine supplies 88% of Europe’s sunflower oil, 41% of its rapeseed, and 26% of its honey. The Middle East even more at risk of food shortages due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Lebanon, for example, gets over [80%](https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/03/lebanon-seeks-alternative-wheat-sources-bans-some-food-exports-amid-war-ukraine) of its wheat from Ukraine and has now banned the export of “foodstuffs” to protect itself. What is not being widely reported is the degree to which the looming collapse of the Ukrainian agriculture sector is due to fuel shortages. Farmers need fuel, mostly diesel, to power their tractors, plows, combines, and delivery trucks. Now, with Russia scaring off diesel deliveries to Black Sea ports while Ukraine is forced to divert some of its fuel to military defense of the country, none is left for agriculture. Taras Panasyuk, Commercial Director for West Oil Group (WOG), one of Ukraine’s top retail fuel companies, said the “situation is really very serious.” Planting season starts in a few weeks, but farmers do not have fuel to sow the fields and have no confidence that they will have fuel with which to harvest later in the year. An agricultural official who requested to remain unnamed was more explicit, “Our agricultural sector is getting completely f\*cked.” **_Read More:_** [**_Here’s How to Solve the World’s Russian Oil Problem_**](https://time.com/6156621/russian-oil-biden-administration-solution/) Ukraine’s agricultural sector consumes approximately 1.5 million tonnes of diesel in a normal year. To survive just the next two months, the peak planting months, Ukraine needs 200,000 tonnes or it will not be able to seed its fields. The country needs another 150,000 tonnes per month for commercial use, including for export supply chains and delivery. The agriculture official noted that these numbers are completely independent from military needs. WOG and its top rival in retail fuel supply, OKKO, report they will run out of diesel completely in the next couple of weeks and have already stopped supplying to agriculture except on prepaid contracts. To be clear, Ukraine’s current diesel shortage is not due to sanctions on Russian oil and gas, nor will it be exacerbated by stricter sanctions. The global economic reawakening since COVID-19 receded had already [disrupted supply chains](https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/after-oil-gas-coal-global-fuel-shortage-spreads-diesel-2022-02-10/), such that even [Saudi Arabia](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-10/world-s-oil-giant-adds-to-diesel-strain-with-rare-buy-tender) is reportedly looking for diesel to import. Meanwhile, [China](https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/China-Asks-State-Owned-Refiners-To-Halt-Gasoline-Diesel-Exports.html), which has carefully not hindered Putin’s invasion, has ordered its state-owned petroleum companies to cease exports since the invasion. Yes, markets are in turmoil because of uncertainty created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the absolute imperative of breaking Russia’s energy dominance over Europe. But Ukraine cannot secure diesel for its agricultural sector and supply chains precisely because Russia’s arrogance about its energy dominance gave Putin a feeling of invincibility. Obviously, his logic involved a conviction that Europe is too dependent on Russian oil and natural gas for it to intervene. The Russian military presence in the Black Sea is making it hard for Ukraine to find willing diesel and other fuel sellers. Before the war, most diesel came into Ukraine through Belarus and the Black Sea ports of Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kherson. Now, Belarus is part of the assault, and Russia has taken control of Kherson and is laying waste to Mykolaiv. Even where there is no immediate fighting yet, such as Odesa, Russian war ships in the Black Sea have scared off suppliers. Just as Russian troops are blockading Mariupol so humanitarian aid cannot get it, Russia has made delivering fuel to Ukraine too dangerous for sellers, they have told Ukrainian counterparts. **_Read More:_** [**_Shoppers Scramble as Ukraine War Hikes Global Food Prices_**](https://time.com/6155752/ukraine-war-food-prices-inflation/) Ukrainian agricultural fuel suppliers say they are ready to make a deal through [traders](https://www.ttnews.com/articles/oil-traders-jump-action-europe-screams-diesel-supply) in Europe. Numerous former market rivals have joined together to increase their purchasing power and have the logistics prepared for diesel deliveries to, for example, the Polish or Romanian ports of Gdansk and Constanca. Suppliers from elsewhere in Europe or the Americas could deliver there for Ukraine. Or, just as easily, if not more easily, foreign governments could supply Ukraine with diesel. NATO could tap its Support and Procurement Organization (NSPO) network of more than 50,000 contracting firms to help Ukraine’s agricultural sector survive. Although countries with strategic oil reserves do not always, or often, include refined products such as diesel, some of them do. The U.S. could release some of its 1,000,000 barrels of diesel kept by the [Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/state-us-strategic-stockpiles) in Connecticut, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Other countries also keep some diesel, but specific numbers are hard to find for stockpiled refined petroleum products versus crude oil. Getting Ukraine diesel for its agricultural sector should be a priority over other uses and other countries. Food prices across the world are already at record highs, and wheat in particular is smashing records. Russia and Ukraine combined produce about 32% of global wheat, together constituting [12%](https://www.ifpri.org/blog/how-will-russias-invasion-ukraine-affect-global-food-security) of all global calories traded. With neither country exporting—Ukraine under siege and Russia under sanctions—the U.N. calculated a likely [20%](https://www.reuters.com/world/un-agency-warns-ukraine-war-could-trigger-20-food-price-rise-2022-03-11/) increase in prices just from the invasion’s supply chain disruptions. If Ukraine’s farmers miss this planting season, too, already sky high prices for food will rise enough globally to trigger hunger in vulnerable populations all over the world and even more than the [8%](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/business/economy/cpi-inflation-february-2022.html) inflation U.S. consumers are already facing. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6157236/ukraines-fuel-crisis-cause-global-hunger-worsen-inflation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6157236/ukraines-fuel-crisis-cause-global-hunger-worsen-inflation/"},"headline":"Ukraine’s Growing Fuel Crisis Will Cause Global Hunger and Worsen Inflation","datePublished":"2022-03-15T06:00:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:51:43.215Z","description":"Ukraine's farmers face a deep crisis as they don't have diesel fuel for their machines and planting season is only weeks away. 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