Temporary restriction on deadweight of vessels for grain initiative imposed in Ukraine - deputy infrastructure minister

MOSCOW. Nov 30 (Interfax) - A temporary restriction has been introduced on the deadweight of new vessels that can participate in the grain initiative: from 15,000 tonnes and above for dry cargo carriers and from 6,000 tonnes and above for bulk vessels for vegetable oil, Ukrainian Deputy Infrastructure Minister Yury Vaskov said.

"The decision was made as conclusions drawn by the coordinating council, which was set up under the Agrarian Policy Ministry. This is the result of discussions with the market," he said during the Infrastructure Day, which was organized by the European Business Association, according to Ukrainian media reports.

Vaskov noted that the decision does not apply to vessels that have already been waiting in line for shipments.

He emphasized that small vessels that fall under this restriction can still call for Ukrainian agricultural products at the ports on the Danube River.

The deputy minister said that Ukraine had filed a formal proposal to the United Nations and Turkey to increase the number of inspections to 25 per day, while for 28 days in November it was an average of 6.5.

This would allow the transshipments in the Greater Odessa ports participating in the grain initiative to be doubled to 6 million tonnes, he said.

"First and foremost, we are working on increasing the number of inspections to at least 25 a day. We need exactly 25 inspections to ensure the stable operation of the three ports. Second, the number of inspections should be increased even further, and the ports of the Nikolayev region should join the grain initiative. And, third, it is necessary to extend these terms for at least a year," Vaskov said.     

Since the grain initiative took effect, 3.5 vessels heading to the ports and three outbound vessels have been undergoing such inspections on average per day, Vaskov said. However, it is just one-third of the cargo handling capacity of the three ports being used as part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, he said.

At the same time, it is possible to bring the number of inspections to 25 within a month, he said.

In addition, Ukraine has managed to more than quadruple exports and imports through the Danube region, Vaskov said.

"The actual amount of shipments we have been sending through the region stands at an average of 55,000-60,000 tonnes per day, and it will keep growing in the future," he said.