Ukraine will increase tonnage of ships as part of grain initiative

Ukraine will increase the tonnage of vessels as part of the ‘grain initiative’ against the background of Russia's sabotage of inspections.

This follows from a statement by the Ministry of Development of Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure, the Ukrainian News agency reports.

According to the report, 25 ships exported 1.1 million tons of agricultural products to countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe last week.

At the same time, compared to the previous week, the volume of exports through the ports of Great Odesa increased by 152,000 tons.

At the same time, the rate of arrival of new ships for loading continues to decrease, so last week the ports of Great Odesa received only 16 ships, the day before last - 25.

It is noted that the tendency to decrease ship calls for agricultural exports is due to Russia's actions in the inspection zone in the Bosporus.

"For the third month in a row, the Russians have purposefully sabotaged inspections under various unfounded and sometimes absurd pretexts. In this regard, as of February 12, a total of 145 vessels are waiting in line for inspection by the Joint Coordination Center, of which 122 are bound for Ukrainian ports for agricultural products... In order to increase the volume of exports under the current conditions and reduce idle time, the tonnage of vessels participating in the Initiative will be increased. In particular, for grain - from 20,000 tons to 25,000 tons, and for oil - from 6,000 tons to 10,000 tons. Considering that the average number of inspections of the incoming fleet is only 2.5 vessels per day, an increase in volume should be expected in one and a half months," the message reads.

Since August 1, a total of 732 vessels have left the ports of Great Odesa, which exported 21 million tons of Ukrainian food to the countries of Asia, Europe and Africa.

It is noted that this volume should have amounted to more than 35 million tons under the conditions of normal functioning of the ‘grain initiative’.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on January 27, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy reported that the daily number of ship departures from Ukrainian ports within the framework of the "grain agreement" fell to an anti-record level due to the actions of the Russian side.

The Ministry of Infrastructure also stated that in the Bosporus, the Russian side in the Joint Coordination Center continues to block the implementation of the ‘grain initiative’ and artificially increase the queue of vessels.

On November 17, Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov announced that the Initiative for safe transportation of agricultural products across the Black Sea was extended for 120 more days.

On August 5, the first caravan with Ukrainian grain left the seaports of Odesa and Chornomorsk.