Milling & Baking News - June 14, 2022 - 10

TUES | 06 14 202 2
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Odessa official: Ukraine needs
help to break Russian blockade
when they occupied Crimea eight years
ago, " he said. " Now they are using them to
partially block Ukraine and partially to
blame Ukraine if any other ships are hit
by those mines, because they were owned
by Ukraine before. "
Ukraine has its own professionals who
know how to remove the mines, but it will
need help, Mr. Bratchuk said.
" We definitely need the help of other
countries to remove those mines as soon
as possible, " he said. " It takes a lot of time
and equipment, and it is necessary for the
safety of Ukrainian ports but also ports of
Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.
" We just need to win this war to solve
this problem. After we win this war, we
will be able to unblock our ports and clean
out the sea of mines. "
Ukraine has found alternatives to
move grain using a combination of
railroad, truck and partially river, Mr.
Bratchuk said. Still, the pace is much
slower than typical. In May, monthly
exports typically average 3 million
tonnes but only reached 1.5 million
tonnes this year, he said.
Moving grain by rail and truck presents
some challenges, including limited
Lotus Bakeries adding capacity
again in North Carolina
MEBANE, NC. - Lotus Bakeries has
announced plans to invest $84 million to
expand its production facility in Mebane
by adding 171,000 square feet to the
237,000-square-foot facility. As part of the
expansion, Lotus will add two more production
lines and warehouse operations
and create up to 62 new jobs, the company
said.
The expansion marks Lotus' second
in Mebane in less than a year. Last July,
the company announced plans to invest
approximately $62 million to add 111,000
square feet and three production lines at
the plant.
" We are thrilled to further expand our
manufacturing footprint in North Carolina, "
said Margo Joris, general manager
10
MILLING & BAKING NEWS
of Lotus Bakeries US. " This expansion
project will substantially increase our
capacity in our plant in Mebane, and
we look forward
to attract skilled
employees to join our
exciting journey. "
Lotus established
the Mebane facility -
its first in the United
States - in 2017.
Founded in Lembeke,
Belgium, in
1932, Lotus Bakeries
has expanded its
operations worldwide
and now has
production facilities
bakingbusiness.com
trucking capacity and the need to reconfigure
railcars at the border to fit a narrower
gauge used in other countries.
" Unblocking of the Odessa port is the
most important thing to reinvigorate
exports, " Mr. Bratchuk said.
The backlog of Ukrainian grain will
likely grow with harvest.
" Of course, harvest will be much less
than last year because of the situation, "
Mr. Bratchuk said. " It is unsafe to work on
the fields in many regions of Ukraine. We
will do the best to collect all the harvest
that is possible. "
In addition to blocking the grain from
" Unblocking of the
Odessa port is the most
important thing to
reinvigorate exports. "
- Sergey Bratchuk, spokesman for the
Odessa military administration
export, Mr. Bratchuk said Russia is stealing
Ukrainian grain. On June 6, reports surfaced
that Russia had stolen 11 railcars full of
grain from a port and shipped it to Crimea.
Since the early stages of the war, Russia
has stolen grain from the occupied parts of
southern and eastern Ukraine, he said.
" It is hard to say what volume is already
stolen and what volume is being stolen
right now, " Mr. Bratchuk said. " Only our
intelligence can see their actions but
there's no real connection between occupied
territories and Ukraine. "
When asked what Ukraine needs from
the rest of the world, Mr. Bratchuk said
the domination of the Russian fleet in the
Black Sea needs to end, and Ukraine needs
weapons.
" Second, it needs to be (end) the blockage
using an international partnership of
NATO countries who can guarantee the
safety of civil operations there, " he said.
" We are an iron nation. We are still fighting,
and we have a lot of work to do to win
this war. " MBN
in Belgium, The Netherlands, France,
Sweden and the United States, and 21
sales organizations in Europe, America
and Asia. The company's products
include cookies, cookie butter, ice cream
and other snacks sold under the Lotus,
Lotus Biscoff, Annas, Nākd and BEAR
brands. MBN
COVER: ©OLEKSANDRA - STOCK.ADOBE.COM; INSIDE: ©LIGHTBOXX - STOCK.ADOBE.COM AND LOTUS BAKERIES

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Milling & Baking News - June 14, 2022

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