A deal allowing Ukraine to export grain to world markets by ship despite Russia’s blockade of the Black Sea has been extended, the UN and the governments of Ukraine and Turkey said on Saturday.
The Black Sea grain initiative, agreed in July under the auspices of the UN and with the mediation of Turkey, has enabled Ukraine to send 25 million tons of grain and edible oil, reducing pressure on global food prices.
Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister in charge of infrastructure, said in a tweet that the agreement was extended by 120 days.
The UN confirmed the deal had been canceled but did not specify for how long, as did Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
“The agreement for the grain corridor will expire today,” Erdoğan said in a speech in the Turkish city of Çannakale, Reuters reported. “As a result of negotiations with both parties, we have obtained an extension of this agreement.”
The original agreement reached last year stated that it would continue automatically for 120 days if neither party objected. Ukraine, Turkey and the UN supported the extension but Moscow said it wanted only 60 days longer.
The deal was extended once in November. It allows commercial exports of food and fertilizers, including ammonia, from three Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea – Odesa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny/Pivdennyi.
The Kremlin has pushed for the reopening of a pipeline to pump ammonia, a raw material for fertilizer, from Tolyatti in central Russia to Odesa for export. It has also demanded the easing of what it claims are western restrictions on Russian cereal exports, although sanctions have not been imposed.
The initiative has become a lifeline for Ukrainian grain farmers and traders as alternative export routes via rail and river barges have lower capacity and are more expensive.
The ships were escorted out of their legal ports to avoid mines and then followed an agreed humanitarian corridor south to Turkey.
Ukrainian officials have complained that Moscow has undermined the deal by ordering officials to delay inspections of Ukrainian ships as they leave the Black Sea for the Bosphorus Strait. Russian inspectors were ordered to work shorter and longer hours with each ship, delaying many ships for weeks, Kyiv said.
“The Black Sea grain initiative, together with the memorandum of understanding on the promotion of Russian food and fertilizer products to the world market, is important for global food security, especially for developing countries,” the UN said.
“We remain strongly committed to the agreement and call on all parties to redouble their efforts to fully implement it.”