Grain initiative: Ukraine and Turkey agreed to resume ship inspections

Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov met with Minister of Defense of Turkey Hulusi Akar. The officials discussed the unblocking and functioning of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

“Agreements have been reached regarding the renewal of registration and inspection of vessels arriving to be loaded with Ukrainian grain,” Oleksandr Kubrakov reported on Facebook.

The minister noted that since April 10, russia stopped registering the new incoming fleet to participate in the “Grain Initiative” and refused to work according to the plans of Ukrainian ports. This made it impossible to draw up inspection plans and effectively stopped the entry of new vessels. In addition, for the last two days, April 17-18, no inspection plan was drawn up and no inspection was conducted in Turkish territorial waters.

“On Tuesday, April 18, the Ukrainian side offered to conduct at least two inspections of the outgoing fleet and two inspections of the incoming fleet. This proposal was also supported by the Turkish side, but was not implemented due to the position of russian federation,” Oleksandr Kubrakov added.

He also emphasized that, by demanding to regulate the activities of Ukrainian ports by determining the vessels that can participate in the Initiative, russian federation violated the official procedures of the Joint Coordination Center and the terms of the Grain Agreement in particular.

“Demands to control and interfere in the work of Ukrainian ports are unacceptable for us. I am grateful to the Minister of Defense of Turkey, Akar Hulusi, for the constructive dialogue and clear position on supporting the work of the grain initiative. Despite the fact that vessel inspections will be resumed, we continue working consultations with the UN and Turkey on ways to ensure the full implementation of the grain agreement in compliance with the obligations of all parties and JCC procedures,” Oleksandr Kubrakov summarized.