Ukraine Ministry: Ships Passing Through Danube Bystre Rivermouth

Ukraine's infrastructure ministry said in a statement Tuesday that 16 ships had passed through the Danube's newly-reopened Bystre rivermouth in the last four days and that the opening up of the Bystre was an important step towards speeding up grain exports.

Ukraine was also negotiating with Romanian colleagues and European Commission representatives about increasing crossings through the Sulina canal, Yuriy Vaskov, deputy infrastructure minister, said in the statement.

Under such conditions, and with access to the Bystre route, Vaskov added, Ukraine expected congestion to be cleared within a week "and we will be able to increase the monthly export of grain by 500,000 tonnes."

(Reuters - Reporting by Elaine Monaghan; editing by Jonathan Oatis)