2023-07-05 13:35:12
A UN official visits Russia before the grain deal expires
The Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Rebecca Greenspan, said today, Wednesday, that it is possible that she will visit Russia before the expiry of the agreement to export grain through the Black Sea.
She told reporters in Geneva: “We will consider going to Moscow in the remaining days, but that has not been confirmed yet.”
This comes following official Russian threats not to renew the agreement, as the Russian Foreign Ministry said, on Tuesday, that it finds no reason to extend the grain shipping initiative agreement across the Black Sea, which ends on July 17.
A statement by the ministry accused Ukraine of exploiting the agreement to export grain to Western countries instead of countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America that need it.
The statement stated that 81% of the Ukrainian grain exported through the Black Sea ports went to high- and middle-income countries.
The statement pointed out that the section related to Russia’s exports of food and fertilizers is being violated, and the statement stated that “Western sanctions imposed on Russia hinder its exports of foodstuffs.”
In the context, data from the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture showed that grain exports in the new season (2023-2024) amounted to 276,000 tons as of Wednesday.
This amount includes 191,000 tons of corn, 65,000 tons of wheat and 20,000 tons of barley.
The ministry did not provide an exact comparison with exports for the same period a year ago, but said that Ukraine exported 163,000 tons of grain from the start of the previous season to July 6, 2022.
Exports in the entire 2022-2023 season amounted to nearly 49 million tons, exceeding the previous season’s amount of 48.4 million.
In July 2022, Turkey, the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul to resume grain exports from Ukrainian ports that were temporarily suspended following the Russian war, in order to address the global food crisis.
The agreement – which was extended several times – allowed the export of grain and foodstuffs from Ukraine, and on May 18, it was extended for an additional 60 days.
(Archyde.com, The New Arab)
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