Ukraine and Turkey want to accelerate the export of grain

Ukraine and Turkey are discussing additional ways to accelerate the shipment of grain from Ukraine.

Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov and Minister of National Defense of Turkey Hulusi Akar met to discuss the work of the “grain corridor”. This was reported by the Ministry of Defense of Turkey on Twitter.

The main topic of the conversation was additional measures that can be taken to accelerate the export of grain from Ukraine.

We would like to remind, that the Istanbul Agreements expire in November. Given that one of the parties to the agreement is russia, it is difficult to predict the future fate of the grain initiative.

Due to its weakness at the front, russia is trying to disrupt the work of the “grain corridor” already now. Thus, russian federation recently announced its desire to reduce the number of inspections of ships with Ukrainian grain in Istanbul.

The reduction in the number of inspections means that the three Black Sea ports in Ukraine — Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi — will operate at a maximum of 50% of their capacity. Shipowners and grain exporters will incur serious costs for vessel delays. As a result, prices for Ukrainian grain will rise. There will also be large-scale traffic jams in the Turkish Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits.

It is important to note that russian grain exports currently do not suffer from Western sanctions. Moreover, russia steals grain in the occupied territories of Ukraine, and since February 24 it has “earned” half a billion dollars from this. Therefore, the intervention of russian federation in the uninterrupted operation of the “grain corridor” only indicates sabotage and attempts to deepen the economic crisis in Ukraine and in the world.