World grain deal in Black Sea extended by two months

Wheat stored at a terminal after harvest in Ukraine's Odessa region, June 23, 2022. (Illustrative image) © Igor Tkachenko/REUTERS

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3 min

Turkey announced on Wednesday that the agreement on the export via the Black Sea of Ukrainian grain, crucial for the world's food supply, was extended on Wednesday by two months while it expired on May 18.

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It was decided to extend the Black Sea cereals agreement for a further two months Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said of the agreement on Ukraine and Russia reached in July 2022. "We are grateful to our partners, the UN and Turkey, for their efforts to strengthen global food security," responded in the wake on Twitter the Deputy Prime Minister for the restoration of Ukraine, Oleksandr Kubrakov, who follows the file. The Kremlin, for its part, confirmed the extension, but denounced an "unbalanced" implementation.

Signed in Istanbul between the United Nations, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey, the agreement has made it possible to export more than 30 million tonnes of Ukrainian cereals over the past ten months, alleviating the global food crisis caused by the war. It had previously been renewed on March 19 for 60 days.

In theory, the extensions are supposed to be valid for 120 days, but Russia then insisted on a 60-day extension, demanding compliance with the other part of the agreement, which concerns its own exports of agricultural products, still hampered by sanctions imposed by Western countries after the launch of the Russian offensive against Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia had listed five demands to extend the deal, including reconnecting Russian agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank to the Swift international banking system and removing obstructions to insure ships and access foreign ports. "Our main assessments of the agreements (...) have not changed," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday, while Moscow says exports of Russian fertilizers and food products remain hampered. "Imbalances in their implementation must be corrected as soon as possible," she added.

An agreement that remains vital

Martin Griffiths, the UN's humanitarian chief, had expressed concern on Monday about "a significant reduction in the volumes of exports leaving Ukrainian ports", calling on the parties to "responsibility", for the extension of an agreement essential for poor countries. Since May 6, no empty boats entering the corridor had been inspected, and checks on outgoing vessels are being carried out in dribs and drabs, according to data from the Istanbul Joint Coordination Centre, which is in charge of inspections at the entrance to the Bosphorus. The inspection of the vessels carrying the grain, carried out by representatives of the four parties to the agreement, was a demand of Moscow to ensure that they would not simultaneously deliver weapons to Ukraine.

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After reaching a peak in May 2022, with wheat at nearly 440 euros per tonne on the European market, prices have fallen, until falling below their pre-war level, around 235 euros recently, in mid-May.

The announcement of the renewal of the agreement, made Wednesday by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, comes at an opportune time for the Turkish president, who will seek re-election on May 28 for a third term. "Putin offers Erdogan another diplomatic victory before the second round of the presidential election," Emre Peker of the Eurasia Group think tank said on Twitter.

(With AFP

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