MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/. Large merchant vessels of international companies have been avoiding Odessa Region ports for three weeks now, since July 22, according to data on vessel movements made available to TASS.

As a result of the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny suspending operations, Ukraine has lost 1.47 billion dollars in foreign exchange earnings. These losses will increase as the harvest is collected, which will be impossible to export.

The port of Nikolayev is being used by the Ukrainian armed forces for military purposes. Ismail is the only functioning merchant port in the Odessa region, though its throughput is three times lower than that of other regional ports. In addition, its potential is limited by the capacity of its steel railways and highways.