Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that the Black Sea Grain Initiative which allows grain exports from Ukrainian ports has been extended for two months.
President Erdogan said that with Turkey’s “efforts” and “support” from Russia and Ukraine the Black Sea grain deal was extended today (Wednesday, May 17).
Earlier today the last vessel under the deal, which was due to expire tomorrow (Thursday, May 18), left the port of Chornomorsk carrying 30,000t of corn destined for Turkey.
In a post on social media, President Erdogan also thanked the United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Guterres for his “efforts in the process”.
The deal brokered by the UN and Turkey has allowed Ukraine to export more than 30 million tonnes of grain from several of its Black Sea ports since last July.
“I wish that this decision, which is of vital importance for the uninterrupted operation of global food supply chains and especially for facilitating access to grain for the countries in need, will be beneficial to all parties,” the Turkish president said.
Ukraine’s Minister for Infrastructure, Oleksandr Kubrakov said that the grain deal will be valid until July 18, and thanked the UN and Turkey for their efforts in “strengthening global food security”.
Black Sea Grain Initiative
Four further vessels carrying over 130,000t of grain that have left the ports of Chornomorsk and Odesa over the past days are currently awaiting inspection.
Of those vessels, 62,000t of corn are destined for Saudi Arabia; 32,611t of corn and 8,704t of soya beans for Egypt; and 30,000t of wheat for Sudan, the Joint Coordination Centre said.
Based in Istanbul, the Joint Coordination Centre, which monitors vessel movements and carries out inspections, consists of senior representatives from Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN.
To date, almost 600,000t of grain have been shipped by vessels chartered by the World Food Programme in support of its humanitarian operations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Yemen.