End of the grain blockade

First ship leaves Ukraine

02-Aug-2022 - Turkey

For the first time since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, a ship carrying grain
has left the port of Odessa. The cargo ship "Razoni", loaded with corn, left for Lebanon on Monday morning, reported CNN Türk with reference to the Turkish Ministry of Defense. Other ships are to follow. The cargo ship "Razoni" sails under the flag of the West African state of Sierra Leone.

This should make millions of tons of grain available again for the world market. Before the Russian war of aggression, Ukraine was one of the world's most important grain exporters. For them, billions in revenue from the sale of wheat and corn, among other things, are at stake.

Shortly before, the Turkish ministry had stated that the grain delivery was taking place within the framework of the agreement concluded on July 22, with further exports to follow.

The warring parties, Ukraine and Russia, had each separately signed an agreement with Turkey in Istanbul, mediated by the United Nations, to allow grain exports from Ukraine from three ports. According to Ukrainian data, more than 20 million tons of grain from last year's harvest are still waiting to be exported. The silos urgently need to be cleared because of the new harvest.

Port operations had been suspended for security reasons after the Russian invasion in late February. Moscow was accused of blocking Ukrainian grain exports. In the agreement, Russia now pledged to allow ships to pass through a sea corridor and not to attack them or any ports involved.

Exports will be monitored by a control center in Istanbul staffed by representatives of Russia, Ukraine, the United Nations, and Turkey. The Bosphorus strait, which runs through Istanbul, is the only sea route from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Turkey has sovereignty over the Bosphorus.

Ships are to be inspected when entering and leaving the Black Sea. Thus, at Russia's request, it will be ensured that the ships do not have weapons or the like on board. Russia fears that Ukraine is procuring weapons from the proceeds of grain sales.

The agreement covers the Ukrainian ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny (Pivdenny). Just one day after the agreement was reached, Russia shelled the port of Odessa, sparking interim concerns that the grain deal could fall through.

Food from Ukraine is urgently needed on the world market - especially in Asia and Africa. The United Nations recently warned of the worst famine in decades. The UN and Turkey had spoken of a sign of hope in times of war when signing the agreement with Russia and Ukraine./jam/DP/mis (dpa)

Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.

https://www.yumda.com/en/news/1177125/end-of-the-grain-blockade.html