Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s minister of infrastructure, warned late Sunday that due to Russia’s efforts to restrict ship inspections at ports, grain exports from Ukraine would not surpass 3 million tons in November, Daily Sabah reports, citing Reuters.
According to Kubrakov’s Facebook page, almost 4.2 million tons of grain departed Ukrainian ports in October.
A July agreement negotiated to assist Ukraine to sell its agricultural exports and securing the transit corridor from three Black Sea ports was extended in mid-November for another four months. This agreement was mediated by Turkey and the U.N. The agreement has so far resulted in the shipment of 11.08 million tons of agricultural products, including 4.5 million tons of grain.
Russia and Ukraine are two of the top exporters of grains worldwide. Teams were assigned to inspect the ships to make sure that no prohibited individuals or items were entering or leaving Ukrainian ports.
But grain exports from Ukraine have slowed down, with Kyiv blaming Russia for its unwillingness to expedite ship inspections.
According to Kubrakov, the three Black Sea ports are only operating at 50% of their capacity with 77 ships waiting in line to pass the inspection in Turkey.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, claimed in September that the grain export agreement between Ukraine and the developed world had “cheated” Russia and the developing world by sending the grain to the former.
Allied nations gathered in Kyiv on Saturday for a conference hosted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to announce a proposal to export food worth $150 million to nations most at risk from starvation and drought.
Through its “Grain From Ukraine” program, which was initially introduced at the G-20 meeting in Bali and is sponsored by the World Food Programme, Ukraine announced intentions to feed at least 5 million people who are experiencing severe hunger by the end of spring 2023.
