Ukraine, Egypt set to sign new grain contract - Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

MOSCOW. Aug 1 (Interfax) - Ukraine and Egypt will sign a new grain agreement, while the old contract, which prescribed Ukraine to supply 240,000 tonnes of wheat to Egypt, will be terminated due to the absence of a force majeure clause, the Ukrainian media said, quoting Vice-President of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mykhailo Nepran as saying on the hromadske.radio channel.

Nepran referred to the information he had received from Ukrainian Ambassador to Egypt Mykola Nahornyi and grain traders.

"Indeed, a contract was signed. Indeed, Ukraine was unable to fulfill it in due time because of the blocking of ports. It happened so that the deal lacked a force majeure clause. If the clause had been there, they would have come to the Chamber, we would have issued a certificate, and that would have been used to postpone the contract fulfillment without penalties," Nepran said.

"As our ambassador to Egypt Nahornyi told me, the Egyptian side formally assured him they were absolutely not stopping cooperation with Ukraine, they understood the port blocking situation, and Egypt was ready to keep working with Ukraine and buying its grain," he said.

The contract for the delivery of 240,000 tonnes of wheat was signed at the end of 2021, and the delivery was scheduled for March-April 2022. The grain prices have changed a lot since then, which will also be mentioned in the new contract, Nepran said.

"Our grain traders told me they were glad that happened, because the price stood at roughly $250 per tonne when the agreement was signed in December of last year. The price has practically tripled by now. So, it became even more profitable for them from the economic point of view: there will be a different price in the new contract," he said.