Putin threatens to withdraw from Ukrainian grain transport agreement

In early August, a safe passage corridor was established in the Black Sea. According to the Ukrainian authorities, since then about 3.7 million tonnes of grain has been sent by him from Ukraine.

For grain transport, three bulk carriers chartered the UN World Food Programme. They carry grain for the needy people of Africa and the Middle East. One of those bulk ships Ikaria Angel He left the port of Odessa towards Africa last Friday.

However, most of the total number of grain transports to date have hit European markets. Only 17% of all exports were sent to Africa.

This proportion provoked criticism from the Russian government. He accused EU countries of monopolising Ukrainian food exports at a time when high cereal prices cause a significant burden on low-income countries.

Accordingly, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to withdraw due to this distribution of supplies, from the corridor agreement claiming that Russia was deliberately deceived as to the actual purpose of the agreement.

The Carnegie Endowment for Peace Centre notes that the threat of President W. Putin's withdrawal from the grain agreement followed the fights in the Kharkiv area.

It should be added that transport from Ukrainian ports increased last Sunday. As many as 10 ships sailed out of them towards Asia, Africa and Europe. Data of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine indicate that these vessels carried a total of around 170 000 tonnes of grain.

Before that, the ports had an average of four to six units per day.

Photos published on social media indicate that one of the ships going out into the sea was a ro/ro freighter. This means releasing an individual who is not a masseur. Since the start of the fighting, dozens of ships have been trapped in Ukrainian ports. Until now only food cargo ships were allowed to leave Ukrainian ports.

Source: Bloomberg/M.Sz.