KIEV, May 23 (Portal) – Ukraine on Tuesday accused Russia of effectively barring Ukraine’s port of Pivdennyi from a deal that allowed safe grain exports from the Black Sea, as Russia complained that it was not under the deal was able to export ammonia to Pivdennyi via a pipeline.
The Black Sea deal, negotiated by the United Nations and Turkey last July and extended by two months last week, includes wartime exports of food and fertilizers from Ukraine’s ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi.
The UN on Monday expressed concern that Pivdennyi has not received any ships under the deal since May 2.
Deputy Minister of Renovation Yuriy Vaskov accused Russia of a “gross violation” of the agreement. All ships are inspected by a joint team of Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and UN inspectors, but Vaskov said Russian inspectors have refused to inspect ships en route to Pivdennyi since April 29.
“They (Russia) have now found an effective way to significantly reduce (Ukrainian) grain exports by excluding the port of Pivdennyi, which handles large-tonnage vessels, from the initiative,” Vaskov said in written comments on Tuesday.
Pivdennyi is the largest port included in the agreement in terms of throughput. Restoration Ministry data shows it stocks about 1.5 million tons of food for future export to 10 countries, and has 26 ships scheduled to collect it.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters Tuesday that Russia’s actions were “a clear breach of its obligations” under the grain deal and urged Moscow to “stop holding world food supplies hostage.”
The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Miller’s comments.
AMMONIA
The Black Sea Grains Agreement was agreed to help address a global food crisis exacerbated by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The agreement also includes ammonia, which Russia transported by pipeline for export to Pivdennyi before the war.
Russia has threatened not to renew the Black Sea Agreement unless a list of demands related to its own food and fertilizer exports is met. The restart of the ammonia pipeline is one of these demands that the United Nations is trying to convey.
Russia used to pump up to 2.5 million tons of ammonia a year for export via the pipeline from Togliati. Russia’s ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzia said on Tuesday that the amount of ammonia “could be used to produce 7 million tons of fertilizer”.
“This amount of fertilizer would make it possible to produce enough food to feed 200 million people. These deliveries should have started at the same time as those of Ukrainian food. However, this never happened,” he told the UN Security Council.
“The ammonia deficit on the world markets is 70% due to the lower quantities,” said Nebenzia.
A Ukrainian government source told Portal on Friday that Kiev will consider allowing Russian ammonia to transit its territory for export if the Black Sea Grains Agreement were expanded to include more Ukrainian ports and a wider range of goods.
Uralchem, Russia’s largest potash and ammonium nitrate producer, expects the opening of an ammonia export terminal near the Black Sea to make the pipeline through Ukraine significantly less relevant, the company’s CEO said.
While Russian food and fertilizer exports are not subject to Western sanctions, restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance pose obstacles to shipments, according to Moscow.
Ukraine has accused Moscow of slowing down ship inspections under the Black Sea Agreement, which Russia denies.
“It’s not working the way it should. Russia continues to slow it down as much as possible,” Vaskov said.
According to UN figures, more than 30 million tons of food have been exported under the Black Sea Agreement.
Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, editing by Timothy Heritage and Barbara Lewis
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