Turkey believes that ports on the Danube will not replace the “grain corridor”

Turkey believes that alternative ways of exporting Ukrainian grain, including ports on the Danube, cannot replace the Grain Agreement.

The “Grain Corridor” has no alternatives, so an agreement must be urgently reached on it, said the President of the Council for Foreign Economic Relations of Turkey (DEIK), Rushen Cetin, Ukrinform reports. 

“After the closure of the grain corridor, there is heavy traffic, as all vessels are concentrated near Ishmael, Reni and Kilia – ports connected to the mouths of the Danube River. From here there is no shipment by large ships to Africa or China. It is urgent to reach an agreement on the grain corridor again,” noted Chetin.

In his opinion, it is impossible to ensure the export of grain from Ukraine by alternative means, because large ships cannot carry out operations due to insufficient depth for them.

The president of DEIK also reminded that this situation affects the economic indicators of both the Black Sea region and European countries.

Currently, it is known that the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, plan to discuss the fate of the Grain Agreement at a meeting this month.