The Ukrainian government announced Thursday that the agreement reached in July with Russia for the export of grain from Ukrainian ports will be extended for 120 days, although neither Moscow nor the guarantor parties have commented on the matter.
«The initiative for safe transportation of agricultural products in the Black Sea has been extended by 120 days,» Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksander Kubrakov said in a message posted on his account on the social network Facebook.
He said that «the decision has just been taken in Istanbul» and added that «the United Nations and Turkey continue as guarantors of the initiative». Negotiations had recently intensified in view of the expiration this Saturday of the current agreement.
In this regard, he revealed that Kiev had advocated extending the initiative «for at least a year» and including the port of Mikolaiv, while stressing that Ukraine «is waiting for a response».
Kubrakov defended that «Ukrainian agricultural exports continue to be an effective tool to cope with the global food crisis» and stressed that since the entry into force of the agreement more than eleven million tons of products have been exported to 38 countries of the world.
«It is a significant amount, but it is not enough. The global market cannot replace Ukrainian agricultural products in the short term. At the same time, it is impossible to increase our food for the world,» the Ukrainian minister explained.
«It is also important to ensure effective operation of the Joint Coordination Center. They have put forward their proposals to solve the existing problems. We should use all the export potential of our ports so that the world could quickly receive the quantities of food it needs,» he concluded.
Kubrakov has further indicated on his Twitter account that the agreement «is another important step in the global fight against the food crisis.» «We are waiting for the official announcement from the leaders of the United Nations and Turkey,» he said, without Russia making a statement for now.
Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement on July 22 following mediation by Turkey and the United Nations to unblock the export of grain and fertilizers, a pact that was briefly interrupted by Moscow’s accusations against Kiev for alleged threats to the corridor’s security. Eventually, Moscow announced its return to the agreement after citing Ukrainian «guarantees», although Kiev denied having made concessions.
