The grain agreement proved the samecapability despite Russia's sabotage
The initiative for the safe transportation of grain and food products from Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea has proven its viability, and the question of its continuation is currently pending. This was stated by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey, Vasyl Bodnar.
There is now a question of whether to continue this initiative, as there are less than 60 days left until its end, and this is now one of the pressing issues. This initiative has confirmed its viability," said Bodnar at a briefing on Tuesday, January 24.
In this context, he recalled that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy launched the Grain From Ukraine initiative to develop this agreement, and as a result of cooperation with the Turkish side, a lot of Ukrainian grain is processed in Turkey and then enters the markets of those countries that need grain products.
The diplomat noted that the grain corridor does not transport the amount of products that Ukraine is able to supply, as representatives of Russia in the Joint Control Center are constantly trying to slow down the process of vessel inspections.
Of course, we could do much more, but today it is an effective process, and it is the only way to supply large volumes of the grain we grow," Bodnar stated.
He noted that the work of the grain corridor is one of the priorities of cooperation between Ukraine and Turkey to ensure food security in the world.
As of January 23, as part of the grain initiative, the ports of Greater Odessa sent 673 ships that exported 18.4 million tons of Ukrainian food to countries in Africa, Asia and Europe.
At the end of July, representatives of Ukraine, Turkey and the UN signed in Istanbul the Initiative on the safe transportation of grain and food products from Ukrainian ports, which is designed to partially unblock the Ukrainian sea ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and "Pivdenny" for the export of grain and fertilizers. The UN and Turkey signed a similar agreement with Russia. The first loaded vessel under the Initiative left Odesa port on August 1.
At a meeting in Istanbul in November, it was agreed to extend the initiative for the safe transportation of agricultural products across the Black Sea under the auspices of the UN for another 120 days - until mid-March 2023.
The "Grain Initiative" made it possible to unblock the ports of Greater Odessa, which before the war were 80% gateways for agricultural exports, to support Ukrainian farmers, to increase the inflow of foreign exchange earnings to Ukraine, to stabilize world food prices, and to prevent a significant deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the states that are on the border famine, in particular Ethiopia, Somalia, Afghanistan.