The United Nations and Russia expect the first shipments of Ukrainian grain to leave today, and Lebanon is investigating a “stolen” flour shipment

The United Nations said it hopes to move the first Ukrainian grain export ships today, Friday, while the Russian “Sputnik” agency quoted an informed source that the ship will leave the port of Odessa (south) today, while Lebanon is investigating a shipment of flour on board a ship coming from Crimea, Kyiv said that it stolen from its stores.

In an online briefing Thursday to UN member states, Martin Griffiths, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said steps for the safe shipment of Ukrainian grain are still being considered.

Griffiths added that the Ukrainian grain cargo ships are ready to move, and after that is done, other ships will enter the ports after they are inspected in a Turkish port north of the Bosphorus Strait.

Tracks coordinates

"The devil is in the details," the UN official admitted at a press conference, but said no major problems had emerged so far, adding that one of the aspects under negotiation over the Ukrainian grain export crisis was the exact coordinates of the safe shipping channels in the Black Sea.

Griffiths added that military officials from Turkey, Russia and Ukraine are working with a United Nations team at a joint coordination center that opened on Wednesday in Istanbul, to come up with standard procedures for operations in relation to the agreement reached by the four parties last Friday.

Griffiths: One aspect of the negotiation to start exporting Ukrainian grain is the exact coordinates of the safe (European) shipping channels.

Last Friday, Russia and Ukraine - two of the world's largest grain exporters - signed an agreement with Turkish mediation and UN sponsorship in Istanbul to secure the removal of millions of tons of grain from Ukrainian ports.

The agreement is valid for 120 days, subject to extension, and allows the export of between 20 and 25 million tons of suspended grain in Ukraine.

"These are detailed negotiations based on the agreement ... but without standard operating procedures we cannot manage safe transit for ships," the UN official said in a briefing to UN member states on Thursday.

Shipping and insurance

Shipping companies and insurers who insure cargo ships want to make sure the voyage is safe and does not involve risks from mines or attacks on ships and their crews.

These matters are usually covered by acceptable navigational practices known as standard procedures of operations.

"It's not just about having one, two or three ships available in the ports and ready to move," Griffiths said.

The Russian “Sputnik” news agency quoted a source it described as an informed source that a ship loaded with grain in the Black Sea will leave the port of Odessa today as planned, “in the absence of force majeure circumstances preventing this.” The agency added that the source refused to specify what he meant by the word “force majeure.” ".

Ukrainian side

Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Alexander Kobrakov said on Friday that his country expects the first grain ships to leave this week, adding that his country's authorities have completed preparations to export grain to the world, and are awaiting the necessary permits from the Istanbul Joint Ship Launching Authority.

According to the same source, the ports of Chornomorsk and Odessa are currently ready to export grain, and the Yuzhny port will complete its preparations soon, noting that Turkey will remain the guarantor of the grain export agreement, but he stressed that Kyiv depends on its naval forces in the event of any danger.

The US ambassador to Kyiv, Brigitte Brink, said Washington hoped that all parties would assume "their responsibility to preserve the grain export agreement from Ukraine."

'stolen' shipment

The Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon told Reuters that the Ukrainian ambassador, Ihor Ostach, met yesterday, Thursday, with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, to discuss the issue of a delicate shipment that arrived in Lebanon from the Ukrainian Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Kyiv says the shipment was stolen from one of its warehouses, and that the Lebanese authorities' purchase of stolen Ukrainian goods "would harm relations between the two countries."

Reuters quoted a Lebanese official as saying that the issue of the shipment in the port of Tripoli was raised during a meeting with President Aoun, pointing to Ukraine's general fears that Russia would try to sell stolen Ukrainian wheat to a group of countries, including Lebanon.

The Syrian ship Ludsia crossed the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey last Saturday, coming from Crimea and heading to the Mediterranean (Reuters)

Lebanese Economy Minister Amin Salam said that the Customs Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture are following up on the matter, and Lebanese Transport Minister Ali Hamiyah told Reuters that the accuracy of the information received in the media is being checked and that the Lebanese law will be referred to in this regard.

A Lebanese customs official and a shipping source told Reuters that the port of Tripoli had not unloaded the ship's cargo on suspicion that it was carrying stolen goods.

According to the available data, the shipment is being carried on board the Syrian "Ludcia" ship, which is subject to US sanctions, and is carrying 5,000 tons of barley, and the same amount of flour.