Grain Initiative: Number of new ships for loading declines

Over the past week, 25 vessels exported 1,100,000 tonnes of agricultural products to Africa, Asia, and Europe. In particular, 54,000 tonnes of wheat were shipped to Sri Lanka, 57,000 tonnes to Bangladesh, and 90,000 tonnes are expected to deliver cargo to Kenya, Tunisia, and Egypt.

Exports through the ports of Greater Odesa have increased by 152,000 tonnes compared to the previous week. At the same time, the number of new vessels calling for loading continues to decline. Last week, the ports of Greater Odesa received only 16 vessels, and the week before that - 25.

The downward trend in ship calls for agricultural exports is due to russia's actions in the Bosporus inspection zone. For the third month in a row, russians have been deliberately sabotaging inspections under various unreasonable and sometimes absurd pretexts. In this regard, as of February 12, 145 vessels are waiting in line for inspection by the Joint Coordination Center, 122 of which are heading to Ukrainian ports for agricultural products.

Currently, there are 18 vessels in the ports of Greater Odesa. They are loading 584,500 tonnes of Ukrainian food.

Only 1 vessel moves along the grain corridor after the inspection.

In order to increase exports in the current circumstances and reduce downtime, the tonnage of vessels participating in the Initiative will be increased. In particular, for grain - from 20,000 tonnes to 25,000 tonnes, and for oil - from 6,000 tonnes to 10,000 tonnes. Given that the average number of inspections of the incoming fleet is only 2.5 vessels per day, the volume should be expected to increase in a month and a half.

We hope that the issue of slowing down inspections will be resolved by our partners and the entire civilized world. Ukraine has the right to free trade navigation under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the world has the right to uninterrupted access to food. russia must stop imposing its discriminatory policies on the world.

Since August 1, 732 ships have left the ports of Greater Odesa, exporting 21,000,000 tonnes of Ukrainian food to Asia, Europe, and Africa. This volume should have been more than 35,000,000 tonnes if the Grain Initiative had been functioning properly.

IC UAC according to the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine