The Ministry of Agrarian Policy expects the extension of the Grain Agreement in March
22.02.2023 - 13:30
The Grain Agreement expires on March 20. The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food expects that it will be extended, negotiations are ongoing.
Currently, Ukraine is doing everything possible to extend the agreement and is conducting negotiations with its partners – the UN and Turkey, said First Deputy Minister Taras Vysotskyi.
“Everyone understands the importance of the work of the Grain Corridor for global food security. We are taking all possible measures to continue its work. We expect that on the 20th of March, when the current grain agreement expires, a consensus decision on its extension will be made together with the partners. Negotiations are ongoing,” said Vysotskyi.
Regarding the impact of the agreement on the price of agricultural products for Ukrainian farmers, he confirmed that there is a certain decrease in the price due to the difficulty of forecasting shipments from the ports after March 20.
“Usually, all grain and oil crops markets are correlated with each other. Therefore, a similar tendency towards price reduction is also observed for wheat, barley, and partially oil crops,” Vysotskyi noted.
According to the deputy minister, a similar situation was observed in autumn, when the question of extending the previous grain agreement arose.
“We hope that after a clear signal about the continuation of its work, there will be a clear planning of sea shipments and the price will stabilize,” said the First Deputy Minister.
According to him, the queue of ships to pass through the Bosphorus is currently maintained due to sabotage by russian inspectors. On average, 2.5 ships pass per day. Such a delay causes additional costs for the Ukrainian agricultural industry.
