The first shipment of Ukrainian grain left the port of Odessa
Grains of wheat on a farm near Izmail in the Odessa region of Ukraine (illustration image).
AFP - OLEKSANDR GIMANOV
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The first shipment of Ukrainian grain left the port of Odessa at 06:17 GMT on Monday, in accordance with the terms of the international agreement with Russia signed in Istanbul, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced.
It is the first merchant ship to resume deliveries for more than five months of war.
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The Razoni ship left the port of Odessa bound for the port of Tripoli in Lebanon.
He is expected on August 2 in Istanbul.
It will continue on its way to its destination following the inspections that will be carried out in Istanbul
,” the ministry added.
Ukrainian MP Oleksii Goncharenko confirms that the ship left the port of Odessa.
According to Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, the boat is loaded with 26,000 tons of corn.
It should arrive at the entrance to the Bosphorus on Tuesday at midday, said Yörük Isik, a specialist in monitoring ship movements on the Bosphorus and in the region.
Other convoys will follow this first departure while respecting “
the [maritime] corridor and the agreed formalities
”, according to the Turkish ministry.
Signed on July 22 in Istanbul between representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations, the agreement allows the resumption of Ukrainian exports under international supervision.
A similar agreement signed simultaneously also guarantees Moscow the export of its agricultural products and fertilizers, despite Western sanctions.
These two agreements should help alleviate a global food crisis that has seen prices soar in some of the world's poorest countries due to the blocking of Ukrainian ports by the conflict with Russia.
Checked shipments
The agreement then provides for the inspection of all merchant ships in a Turkish port by a team of Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish and United Nations experts, in order to verify its cargo – as demanded by Russia, reports our correspondent at Istanbul,
Anne Andlauer
.
Before the ship can continue its route via the Mediterranean to its port of destination.
This center, responsible for controlling Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea, was inaugurated on Wednesday in Istanbul in accordance with the agreement.
It brings together representatives of the two belligerents, as well as Turkey and the United Nations, represented by retired American Admiral Fred Kenney.
The CCC's tasks, according to the agreement, are to validate and monitor the merchant vessels that will participate in the convoys, to monitor them via the Internet and by satellite, to inspect the vessels at the time of loading in Ukrainian ports and upon their arrival in the Turkish ports.
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