Almost 32 mln tonnes of food exported from Ukraine under Black Sea Grain Initiative

NEW YORK, UN. June 15 (Interfax) - More than 31.9 million tonnes of agriproducts have been exported from Ukraine under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) said on Thursday.

"As of today, the total grain and foodstuffs exported under the Initiative is 31,902,478 tonnes," the JCC said in a release.

This volume includes 625,169 tonnes of grain exported on dry cargo carriers chartered by the UN World Food Program.

According to the document, 2.7 million tonnes of food was exported from Ukraine under the initiative in April and 1.3 million tonnes was exported in May. A little more than 1.3 million tonnes of grain was exported in June as of this moment.

According to the JCC, the number of vessel inspections has decreased considerably since May 25. The JCC did not conduct inspections on June 1-4 as the sides could not reach agreements.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative envisages the export of fertilizers, including ammonia. However, these products were not exported.

In early May, the JCC reported the export of more than 29 million tonnes of agriproducts under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative was signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022. Two documents were signed with the participation of the UN, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine: on the creation of a corridor for exporting grain from three Ukrainian ports (Chernomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhny) and on the removal of barriers to the export of Russian food and fertilizers.

The initiative was extended in November 2022 by 120 days. Thus, it expired on March 18, and was then extended by another 60 days, until May 18.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on May 25 alternatives would need to be sought for the Black Sea Grain Initiative if Rosselkhozbank was not connected to SWIFT and if there was no headway on other systemic problems that blocked Russian agricultural exports.

In June, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said persistent work was being done on extending the Black Sea Grain Initiative. In the meantime, he expressed concern about the fact that Russia may withdraw from it in July.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this week Moscow was thinking about withdrawing from the Black Sea Grain Initiative.