On October 29, Russia announced it had quit the “grain deal” brokered by the UN and Turkey in July to allow Ukraine to export grain by the Black Sea. Moscow presented its move as a response to an alleged attack by Ukraine on the Russian fleet around Sevastopol city. Despite Russia’s warnings, a group of ships loaded with grain nonetheless exited through the safe corridor, exporting grain that had been loaded in Ukrainian ports. Shortly thereafter, Russia made a U-turn and announced it would return to the agreement after negotiations with Turkey. Moscow cited “written guarantees” from Ukraine that Kyiv would not use this corridor for military purposes or attacks against Russia.
This brief spat over the deal, which to that point had worked for all parties, left a mixed impression. On the one hand, Russia’s actions underscored that the agreement was vulnerable and weak, and made clear Moscow’s readiness to abandon it at any moment it saw fit. On the other hand, Turkey’s intervention, which secured the continuation of the deal and convinced the Kremlin to rejoin it, illustrated the significant influence Ankara wields in the Black Sea, both as a key interlocutor between parties and as a counteracting player to Russia.
Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Mykola Solskyi met with Deputy Country Director of the World Food Programme in Ukraine Marianne Ward.
As a part of regular negotiations in the process of execution of the initiative «Grain from Ukraine» the parties discussed the current state of things and further steps for the implementation of the humanitarian food program.
The energy system of Ukraine, despite everything, continues to work stably. There are 11.7 billion cubic meters of gas in storage, and 1.2 million tons of coal in warehouses, which makes it possible to successfully overcome the challenges of winter.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said this at a government meeting on January 6.
Rural households, smallholder farmers and small-scale agricultural enterprises will benefit from a $15.5 million project funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to support the functioning, reinforcement and strengthening of value chains in agriculture, fisheries and forestry, and their adaptation to the wartime conditions.
The project will focus on supporting producers in Lvivska, Ivano-Frankivska, Zakarpatska and parts of Chernivetska oblast with matching grants for on-farm and value chain-based investments coupled with extension and advisory support.
Mr. Taras Vysotskyi, the First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, spoke in the national information telethon «United News» about the upcoming spring sowing campaign, the problems with grain exports and why the food initiative «Grain from Ukraine» supports not only African countries, but also Ukrainian farmers.
According to his opinion, while last year as of February 24, 2022 the agrarians were fully prepared for the sowing campaign, now there is a problem with liquidity, availability of finance, which complicates and slows down the preparation for field work. At the same time, the farmers are strongly intended to work.
Six ships carrying 355,000 tonnes of Ukrainian agricultural products departed from Ukraine's Black Sea ports on Thursday, January 5.
According to Ukrinform, the press service of the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry said this in a post on Facebook.
The fall in real gross domestic product (GDP) of Ukraine in 2022 is estimated at 30.4% [±2%], which is better than preliminary forecasts, the Economy Ministry said on Thursday.
As noted in a press release from the ministry, in December, the fall in GDP is estimated at 34% [±2%] compared with 37% [±2%] in November, given a certain stabilization of the energy supply situation after shelling in November.
Almost 39 million tons of grain, oil crops and their processing products have been shipped by Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion. Among the three leaders among the agricultural crops that were shipped during the 10 months of the war, there is corn – 15.6 million tons, wheat – 8.6 million tons, and sunflower oil – 3.3 million tons.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is concerned by the Russian Federation’s actions leading to delays in operations of the grain corridor through the Black Sea.
Starting from 14 October 2022, Russia’s inspectors assigned to the Istanbul Joint Coordination Centre have been significantly prolonging the inspection of vessels, which are heading to Ukraine’s ports for grain loads, or have already been loaded and are on their way to the final destination. As a result, more than 165 vessels have been stuck in a queue near the Bosporus Strait, and this number continues to grow daily.
The sowing of winter crops is still ongoing. So far, 3.6 million hectares have been sown, or 76% of the forecast.