According to Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, two cargo ships headed for Ukrainian ports on Saturday became the first ships to use a temporary corridor to enter Black Sea ports and load grain for African and Asian markets.
Following Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which had allowed Kyiv to export grain, Ukraine last month declared the creation of a “humanitarian corridor” in the Black Sea to free ships imprisoned in its ports since the war’s beginning in February 2022 and to avoid a de facto embargo.
The corridor that skirts the western Black Sea coast close to Romania and Bulgaria has been used by five vessels to leave the port of Odesa so far.
Ukraine, a major producer and supplier of food worldwide, also wants to exploit the corridor for its food exports.
According to Kubrakov, the bulk ships Resilient Africa and Aroyat were travelling across the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports to load about 20,000 tonnes of wheat for Africa and Asia.
MarineTraffic, a company that tracks ships, reported that the Aroyat was at the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk while the other vessel was travelling through the Black Sea.
The wheat would be delivered to Egypt and Israel, according to a statement from the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture on the Telegram messaging service.
“The U.N. is not involved in the movement of those vessels, but we welcome all efforts for the restoration of normal trade, especially of vital food commodities that support the supply and stability of the world’s food markets,” a U.N. official told Reuters under the condition of anonymity.
We keep working to make it easier for agricultural products from the Russian Federation and Ukraine to be exported, the official said.
The loadings are an evaluation of Ukraine’s capacity to restore shipping lanes at a time when Russia is attempting to reimpose its de facto blockade after giving up on the grain agreement in July. Moscow frequently conducts drone and missile strikes on the grain export facilities in Ukraine.
In order to fight a global food crisis made worse by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.N. and Turkey mediated the Black Sea grain deal in July 2022. The top grain exporters in the world are Ukraine and Russia.
On the Russian Black Sea naval fleet in and around the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia took from Ukraine in 2014, Ukraine launched a number of attacks in recent days utilising sea drones and missiles.
Reuters
