Kiev pins grain export expectations on provisional sea corridor - minister

MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) - The Black Sea Grain Initiative is unlikely ever to be reinstated, and Ukraine is currently pinning its grain export expectations on the temporary sea corridor it has established unilaterally, Ukrainian media quoted Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Nikolai Solsky as saying at a press lunch in Kiev on Tuesday.

"I feel that [the Black Sea Grain Initiative] has ceased to exist in its previous format. There was the impression in summer that it hardly bothered the world. Grain [on the global market] is cheaper. Moreover, Turkey is seeing a record, and it's not really interested," Solsky said.

Asked whether the sea corridor could be expanded, he said this is already happening through increasing the number of vessels arriving at and departing the Greater Odessa ports.

Solsky denied that the limitation of marine traffic via the provisional corridor was due to actions by local authorities in Odessa to bring Ukrainian grain exports out of the shadow economy. He insisted that this was a pure coincidence and that tighter controls at Greater Odessa ports prompted growth in grain exports via Ukraine's western borders, particularly by rail, by 50% over the previous week.