The operation of the grain corridor after July 18 remains in question

The Russian Federation continues to block Ukrainian grain exports, but the UN and Turkey are unable to convince the Russian Federation to stop delaying vessel inspections, leading to uncertainty over the further operation of the grain corridor after July 18.

According to Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Yuriy Vaskov, the Zernova initiative is operating at less than 20% of its normal capacity due to the position of the Russian Federation in the Joint Coordination Center, and the situation is getting worse every day.

"From May 1 to today, only 43 vessels have passed inspection at the entrance. Accordingly, on average, since May 1, the Russian Federation allows a little more than one vessel per day for inspection. There are 54 vessels waiting, some of them have been waiting for inspection for more than three months. The Port "Southern" has not is fully operational. If we speak in numbers, the initiative is already operating at less than 20% of its normal capacity. And every day the situation worsens solely because of Russia's position in the Joint Coordination Center," Yu. Vaskov said.

He also noted that the UN and Turkey are informed about the situation and negotiations are being conducted through them.

"Negotiations are being conducted through the UN and Turkey. They know about the situation. We communicate every day. Now we have no information that the situation can improve," the deputy minister stated.

It is worth noting that 16 ships left the Black Sea ports of Ukraine in the last week, compared to 7 in the previous week, and a total of 17 ships in the three previous weeks. As of June 17, 2023, the total export of grain from Ukraine since the beginning of the season through all export channels reached 45.943 million tons, compared to 47.9 million tons a year ago, including wheat - 16 million (18.65), barley - 2.67 ( 5.7) million tons and corn - 27.7 (22.9) million tons.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday that he is concerned that Russia will withdraw on July 17 from an agreement that allows the safe export of grain and fertilizer during hostilities from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

To persuade Russia to agree to the Black Sea Grain Agreement, a three-year memorandum of understanding was signed, under which UN officials agreed to help Russia export its own food and fertilizers.

While Russian food and fertilizer exports are not subject to Western measures imposed after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow says restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance have hampered supplies.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Vershinin said on Saturday that Russia "cannot be satisfied with the way this memorandum is being implemented," the TASS news agency reported. He spoke after meeting with UN trade official Rebecca Greenspan in Geneva on Friday.

Among the demands put forward by Russia are the resumption of ammonia exports through the pipeline to the Ukrainian port "Pivdenny" and the connection of "Rosselkhozbank" to the SWIFT international payment system.

According to the UN representative, the organization helped increase Russian exports of food and fertilizers by ensuring a stable flow of ships to Russian ports and reducing freight and insurance rates, but the same cannot be said for exports from Ukraine, where freight rates and insurance premiums exceed similar Russian levels by several times. and already reach 20-30% of the value of grain, and the flow of ships has decreased to a minimum since the entry into force of the agreement.