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Business associations of Ukraine urge to expand number of ports under Grain Initiative, extend it for another year
KYIV. March 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The largest Ukrainian business associations American Chamber of Commerce, European Business Association and Ukrainian Agribusiness Club have urged to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative for at least one year, and not for the next 120 days, and include in it the Mykolaiv sea port, the Olvia specialized sea port, as well as other unused ports and terminals of the Dniprovsko-Buzkyi channel, in their appeal to the United Nations (UN) and Turkey as guarantors of the initiative.
“Russian inspectors at the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) artificially block the full-scale operation of the Initiative and violate free navigation in the Black Sea. Inter alia, the Russian side consistently delays the inspection of vessels that move via Bosphorus to/from Ukrainian ports. As of now, 140 vessels are waiting to be inspected by the JCC in the Bosphorus, and Ukrainian ports working only at 30% of their capacity,” the authors of the appeal said, describing the current situation.
At the same time, the movement of Russian vessels in the Black Sea is not limited by regular inspection, while the number of transported cargos is about 250 million tonnes by shipping through the Azov Sea and the Black Sea in 2022, according to the document.
The business community of Ukraine also called to take measures to ensure stable and timely operation of inspectors/commission representatives operating under the JCC to speed up the movement of vessels with Ukrainian grain and to eliminate the queues, as well as ensure free commercial navigation in the Black Sea for all parties or to introduce inspections for all Russian vessels shipping in the Black Sea by establishing equal conditions for Ukrainian and Russian export.
“If the Initiative operated smoothly and in its full capacity, the total amount of grain export volumes could be 30-40% higher,” the appeal says.
Approximately 10 million tonnes of agricultural products have not been shipped to international markets.
Its authors said that there are more than 25 million tonnes of Ukrainian grains expected for export in the current marketing year.
As reported, in February, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Oleksandr Kubrakov made a similar appeal to the UN and Turkey as guarantors, but so far to no avail.