Ukraine Export Corridor Update The biggest news in European and Black Sea grain markets this week is Russia’s announcement that it will exit the UN/Ukraine/Russia grain “export corridor” deal effective immediately. WPI and other analysts had long suspected Russia would not renew the deal when it expired in mid-November, but the sudden exit was a surprise. Russia said its move was motivated by recent Ukrainian attacks on the Russian-held Black Sea port of Sevastopol. Russia blame Ukraine for using “the cover of a humanitarian corridor” to launch sea and air strikes against Russian forces. Russia indicated it can no longer guarantee the safety of civilian ships navigating the Black Sea. In response to Rus...
Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming
WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.