Mykolaiv port may be added to the updated "grain agreement"

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Assistance Martin Griffiths said that he was "relatively optimistic" about the continuation of the agreement, which allowed the resumption of exports of Ukrainian grain by the Black Sea.

Earlier this month, Griffiths visited Moscow along with senior UN trade official Rebecca Greenspan to discuss with Russian officials the agreement, which also aims to facilitate Russian grain and fertilizer exports to world markets.

Under the July 22 agreement, Ukraine was able to resume Black Sea exports of grain and fertilizer, which stopped when Russia invaded its territory on February 24. The agreement was agreed for 120 days.

"We really want it to be extended as soon as possible. It is important for the market. I am still relatively optimistic that we will achieve this. We are working hard," Griffiths said.

The United Nations is working to extend the agreement for another year and facilitate the inspection of ships by representatives of the UN, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine. Recently it became known about the delay with the departure of more than 150 ships.

"I think we should take another look at some of these procedures to see if they can be simplified in some way," Griffiths said.

The UN representative also suggested that Ukraine could try to expand the export agreement to include another port - Mykolaiv.

The publication points out that Russia criticizes the agreement because its own exports are still limited, and Ukrainian grain allegedly does not reach the countries that need it. The UN representative once again denied these allegations.

As a reminder, on July 22, in Istanbul, at the suggestion of the United Nations, Ukraine, Turkey and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres signed the Initiative on the safe transportation of grain and food products from the Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny.

On August 1, as part of the implementation of the agreements, the first vessel - RAZONI under the flag of Sierra Leone - departed from the port of Odesa. The vessel carried 26 thousand tons of Ukrainian corn.

Before the start of the UN General Assembly in September, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said that the European Union did not impose any sanctions on the supply of Russian-made food and fertilizers to foreign markets, but international market operators themselves do not want to deal with a state that kills and kidnaps civilians in a neighboring country and provokes a global food crisis.

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 27/10/2022