The grain deal for the export of food from Ukraine through the Black Sea will be extended for 120 days. This was announced by the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov on his Facebook page.
The current agreement expires on Saturday, November 19th.
“The initiative for the safe transportation of agricultural products across the Black Sea has been extended for another 120 days. This decision was made in Istanbul. The UN and Turkey remained the guarantors of the implementation of the Initiative. Ukrainian agricultural export today remains an effective tool to counteract the global food crisis.”
According to Kubrakov, from August 1 to the present, Ukraine has exported more than 11 million tons of agricultural products to 38 countries of the world as part of a grain deal. The world market does not have the opportunity to replace Ukrainian agricultural products in the short term, the minister stressed.
He added that Ukraine has officially approached its partners in the grain initiative with a proposal to extend it for at least a year and include the port in Nikolaev; the country is now awaiting a response.
The day before, Bloomberg reported that Russian businessman Dmitry Mazepin is one of the main beneficiaries of the extension of the grain deal between Russia, the UN, Turkey and Ukraine. The publication believes that he can act as one of the lobbyists for new terms for the continuation of the deal, since before the war his companies occupied one of the leading positions in the world in the supply of fertilizers.
Russia ended the grain deal on 30 October. President Vladimir Putin said that Kyiv allegedly used the "grain corridor" to strike ships in Sevastopol. Already on November 1, Putin, in a telephone conversation with Erdogan, named two conditions for Russia to return to the deal: an investigation into the attack on ships of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol and obtaining guarantees from Kyiv not to use the humanitarian corridor for military purposes. After that, Turkey announced that Turkish dry cargo ships would continue to export food from Ukraine, while the decision of the Russian Federation would not affect the transportation of grain.
On November 2, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the country would again participate in the Black Sea grain deal. Dispatch of ships along the “grain corridor” resumed on November 3.