In Istanbul, at the suggestion of the United Nations, Ukraine, Turkey and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres signed the Initiative on safe transportation of grain and food products from Ukrainian ports.

It provides for the creation of demilitarized humanitarian corridors for the export of food from the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdenny.

"Undoubtedly, the signing of such a document on Ukrainian terms became possible exclusively thanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, whose successes made it possible to defend the crucial conditions for Ukraine, namely, to leave full control over the territorial waters of the North-Western region of the Black Sea.

First of all, this is a great support for the Ukrainian economy. More than 20 million tons of grain have been in warehouses since last year, and the new crop is already waiting for export. If the President's team did not manage to move this issue from a dead end, Ukrainian farmers would doubtedly sow the fields next year.

Working seaports of Ukraine are our contribution to global food security and the world economy. According to experts, the possibility of exporting Ukrainian grain will reduce world food prices, which will slow down the flywheel of inflation, which has become a problem for the whole world,"- commented the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov.

According to the agreements, all activities in Ukrainian territorial waters will be carried out under the authority and responsibility of Ukraine.

Control and monitoring

The agreement stipulates that a Joint Coordination Center (JCC) will be created in Istanbul under the auspices of the UN with the participation of representatives of Ukraine, Turkey, the UN and Russia, which will deal with:

general supervision and coordination of the implementation of agreements

registration of ships coming to unblocked Ukrainian ports

approving transit schedules and ships entering ports.

Also, special inspection groups are being created with the participation of all Parties, which will check vessels for the presence of unauthorized cargoes and personnel on board, which are heading to or leaving Ukrainian ports.

Such groups will work in harbors in the area of ​​the Turkish Strait (Bosphorus Strait), which will be previously determined by the Turkish side.

Economic effect

Thanks to the agreement, Ukraine will be able to:

to export approximately 20 million tons of grain that is in warehouses

make room for a new crop

attract additional foreign currency income from one of the key export sectors of the economy to the economy.

Besides more than 400 million socially and economically vulnerable people in Africa and Asia will receive food products, without which they would be on the verge of starvation.

Also, the release of Ukrainian grain can also lower world food prices.

Today, due to the blockade of sea ports, which before the full-scale invasion accounted for approximately 80% of the export of agricultural products of Ukraine, the export of food takes place exclusively through the Danube ports, railway and road checkpoints on the western borders.

Their capacities are not sufficient for the prompt replacement of blocked seaports. In particular, the available opportunities allowed to export approximately 2,5 million tons of grain in June with a monthly need of 8 million tons.

The problem is also complicated by the insufficient number of infrastructure facilities for food storage and Russia's systematic attacks on existing warehouses. In this regard, farmers have limited opportunities to store the new harvest and, accordingly, need to export approximately 20 million tons of grain from last year's harvest from warehouses.

Reference source: https://bit.ly/3opkRhW