Methodological Approaches to Assessing the Efficiency of Grain Export Logistics

Grain export logistics cannot be assessed by freight rates alone because route choice also affects handling time, cargo quality, and disruption risk. This is especially relevant to Ukraine, where flows are distributed among maritime, Danube, rail, and road corridors. A suitable framework must therefore connect cost with operational performance, resilience, environmental impact, and data quality. The study aims to substantiate a methodological framework for assessing grain export logistics at shipment, route, company, and national levels and to define a transparent procedure for combining heterogeneous indicators. Logistics efficiency is defined as the ability of an export chain to deliver the contracted quantity and quality of grain within the agreed time at a justified total cost and an acceptable risk. Eight blocks are proposed: cost, time, reliability, grain preservation, capacity, institutional quality, resilience and security, and environmental performance. After the assessment boundaries and data quality are fixed, indicators are normalised and weighted by combining AHP with CRITIC. Geometric aggregation limits compensation, so weak reliability cannot be concealed by a favourable tariff. The index is adjusted for transittime variability, disruption probability, and grain losses. The scientific novelty is the integration of multi-level assessment, limited-compensation aggregation, risk correction, and a data-coverage rule. DEA and sensitivity testing benchmark homogeneous objects and verify ranking robustness. The framework converts fragmented records into an assessment that is interpretable for managers and public authorities. Its practical value lies in route selection, contract review, bottleneck diagnosis, and infrastructure prioritisation. Implementation requires common indicator passports and interoperable data. Further research should estimate weights and risk parameters and test the model on panel data for Ukraine's principal grain export corridors.