Nearly 30 mln tonnes of Ukrainian food exported under Black Sea grain deal - Joint Coordination Center
NEW YORK. May 10 (Interfax) - Over 29 million tonnes of agricultural produce has been exported under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the Joint Coordination Center reported.
"The total exports of grain and foodstuffs under the Initiative is 29,798,277 metric tonnes," the center said.
Grain exports under the deal totaled 3,933,607 tonnes in March, 2,785,455 tonnes in April (29% less than in March), and the period from May 1 through 9 saw 581,218 tonnes of grain exported, it said.
The number of vessel inspections has substantially dropped to one or two a day since May 1, it said.
"There are currently 14 vessels in the Ukrainian ports loading approximately 600,000 metric tonnes of grain and foodstuffs [...], 26 vessels in Turkish waters loaded with 1,157,974 metric tonnes of grain and foodstuffs, [...] 62 vessels waiting to move to Ukrainian ports," it said.
Since the grain deal took effect, vessels chartered by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) have delivered over 595,000 tonnes of grain to Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Yemen as humanitarian aid, it said.
The Deniz M vessel chartered by the WFP is currently moving via the sea humanitarian corridor for the Odessa port to be loaded with 30,000 tonnes of wheat to be delivered to Ethiopia as humanitarian aid, it said.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Tuesday that Ankara would continue negotiations on the deal's future.
"We will be working to continue the grain deal on May 18 without allowing for any stoppage or cessation," Western media quoted Akar as saying.
The grain deal was signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022. The UN, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine signed two documents to open a grain corridor from three Ukrainian ports (Chernomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhny) and to lift restrictions on Russian food and fertilizer exports.
The initiative was extended for 120 days in November 2022. After the initiative expired on March 18, it was extended for another 60 days.
Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said in early May that Russia's terms of the grain deal had still not been met, "time is shrinking," and a dialogue on the matter would continue.