On August 1, 2022, Sierra Leone-registered ship, ‘Razoni’, set sail from the Ukraine Port of Odesa carrying 26,527 tonnes of corn. It is for the first time since Russia’s invasion on February 24 that a vessel loaded with Ukrainian grain departed from its ports on the Black Sea. The carrier destined for Tripoli in northern Lebanon, passed through a specially-cleared “safe humanitarian maritime corridor”
GRAIN CARGO: THE TREATY
The sailing of the Maize cargo container is the first under a United Nations backed agreement enabling resumption of Ukrainian farm produce exports through its Black Sea ports. This agreement known as Black Sea Grain Initiative is an agreement between Russia and Ukraine with Turkey and the United Nations signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022. The initiative allows for significant volumes of commercial food exports from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea – Odesa, Chornomorsk, Yuzhny. As part of the deal, a Joint Coordination Centre formed will monitor the implementation. It will be hosted in Istanbul and will include representatives from Ukraine, Russia and Türkiye. As part of the signature, Ukrainian vessels will guide the cargo ships into international waters of the Black Sea, avoiding mined areas. The vessels will then proceed towards the Bosphorus Strait along an agreed corridor. Ships heading to and from the Ukrainian ports will be inspected by teams organised by the Joint Coordination Centre.
GRAIN CARGO; GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL TRADE
Before Russian invasion, Ukraine was the world’s fifth largest exporter of wheat, fourth in corn and number one in sunflower oil, oilcake/meal and seed and number two in rapeseed. In 2021, the country’s total agricultural exports were valued at 27.8 billion dollar. This shows the importance of the opening of Black sea for the world. Soon after the gates of the black sea were opened, the price of several of the commodities have come down in the global market.
GRAIN CARGO; INDIA
In 2021, the bilateral trade between Ukraine and India amounted to 3.45 billion dollar. Export of goods from Ukraine – 2.49 billion dollar, import of goods from India – 961.2 million dollar. The top commodities exported by Ukraine to India were fats and oils of vegetable origin (77.2%), fertilizers (11.7%), nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery (1.9%). Main Indian commodities imported by Ukraine were pharmaceutical products (26.1%), electrical machinery (5.4%) etc. The largest import was sun flower oil. This picture shows how important and beneficial is the opening of black sea for Cargo carriers from Ukraine to India.
Amid the ongoing war, more than one million tonnes of grain and food items have been exported from Ukraine under Black Sea deal. UN Coordinator for the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Amir Abdulla said that this “remarkable achievement” was made possible through the collective efforts and hard work of the Joint Coordination Centre. “As the world grapples with food insecurity and high prices, the importance of this Initiative is clear. As increased volumes of Ukraine’s agricultural production are now heading to market by sea, confidence has grown in the food and shipping industries, driving down prices and reducing risk,” said Abdulla.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed deep concern at Russia’s decision to suspend its involvement in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal set up to reintroduce vital food and fertilizer exports from Ukraine to the rest of the world.
The Russian move reportedly took traders by surprise, and raised fears of another steep rise in food prices. Arif Husain, Chief Economist at the World Food Programme (WFP), reportedly warned that Russia’s decision poses a danger to a large number of countries, and should be resolved as soon as possible.
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that the Secretary-General is continuing to engage in intense contacts aimed at ending the Russian suspension of its participation in the Initiative.
This engagement, he explained, also aims at the renewal and full implementation of the initiative to facilitate exports of food and fertilizer from Ukraine, as well as removing the remaining obstacles to the exports of Russian food and fertilizer.
