The UN is conducting negotiations on the extension of the grain agreement
At the moment, the participating parties of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, through their representatives in Istanbul, continue to discuss and make decisions on the movement of vessels, and negotiations are underway at all levels to avoid blocking this initiative.
The spokesperson of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Ukraine, the head of the public relations department, Saviano Abreu, told about this in a comment for CTS.
According to him, any changes to the Initiative must be discussed and agreed upon by all parties. "The UN is ready to support these discussions. And yes, with the support of Turkey, we are working tirelessly to ensure the continuation of the agreement. Ukraine needs it, the world needs it. It is too important and we cannot be defeated. It is not an easy agreement, but we will study all opportunities for it to be extended in March."
The UN notes that since the conclusion of the agreement, more than 21 million tons of food have been safely transported from Ukraine across the Black Sea to more than 40 countries. In particular, this includes 426,000 tons of wheat delivered under the auspices of the World Food Program for humanitarian operations in Afghanistan, Yemen, Ethiopia and Somalia.
In addition, about 20% of agricultural products were exported directly to low-income or below-average income countries. "Every ship that leaves Ukrainian ports with food has a positive impact on global food security. The initiative has a direct impact on global food prices at a time when the world, especially low-income people, is facing a food crisis. Since the beginning of the agreement, global food prices markets have been constantly declining," Saviano Abreu noted.
We will remind that the grain agreement was extended only until March 18. Currently, Ukrainian business and the authorities emphasize that it is critically necessary not only to continue the initiative under the previous conditions, but also to fully open commercial shipping in the Black Sea.
"The rules of the game should be the same for all its participants. Is shipping free for everyone, or are the requirements the same - inspections, a special procedure for registering ships, equal participation of representatives of all states in this bureaucracy," noted Andrii Stavnitser, co-owner of the TIS terminals group, in particular.
Also, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba and Minister of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Oleksandr Kubrakov issued a joint statement to partners, in which they called on the UN and Turkey, as guarantors of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, to demand from the Russian Federation an immediate end to artificial delays in the work of the "grain corridor". stopping Russian attempts to use food as a weapon and unblocking commercial shipping to Ukrainian Black Sea ports.