UPDATE 1 – Traders do not plan to suspend grain exports from Odessa after Russian attacks – Ukrainian minister

(Adds details, exports data)

KYIV, Dec 11 (Reuters) – Traders have no plans to suspend grain shipments from Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odessa due to Russia’s latest attack on the region’s energy system, Agriculture Minister Mykola Solky said on Sunday.

“There are problems, but none of the traders are talking about suspending deliveries. Ports use alternative energy sources,” Solsky said in a phone call with Reuters.

More than 1.5 million people in the southern Odessa region were without electricity after Russian drone strikes on the power generation system, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address late Saturday.

Since October, Moscow has been attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with large waves of missile and drone attacks.

Odessa regional authorities said power supply to the city’s population would be restored “in the coming days,” while full restoration of networks could take two to three months.

Ukraine is among the world’s largest producers and exporters of corn and wheat, but its exports have declined significantly due to the Russian invasion.

After a nearly six-month blockade caused by the invasion, three Ukrainian Black Sea ports in the Odessa region were unblocked in late July under a deal between Moscow and Kiev brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.

Grain exports from Ukraine fell 47.6% year-on-year to 1.09 million tonnes in the first eight days of December, Agriculture Ministry data showed. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Susan Fenton)