The Ukrainian Agriculture Ministry on Monday expressed concerns that the Black Sea grain deal, which allows Ukraine’s agricultural produce to be exported to Africa and Asia despite Russia’s naval presence, irrevocably will expire on March 20, 2023, despite Kyiv’s efforts to negotiate an extension.
Noting that Ukraine is doing everything possible to prolong the agreement and is negotiating both with the UN and Türkiye, Ukraine’s First Deputy Minister Taras Vysotsky pointed out that they expect an extension decided with a consensus decision of partners.
Kyiv agreed with the UN and Türkiye in November to extend the Initiative for the Safe Transportation of Agricultural Products across the Black Sea for another 120 days, underscoring that due to intentional sabotage by Russian inspectors, there’s still a line of grain ships at the Bosporus.
Thanks to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, since July grain was made available for shipping from three Ukrainian ports.
Though the accord is due for renewal once more in March, Moscow has requested the lifting of sanctions that hinder its agricultural exports, stressing that it’s dissatisfied with several components of the arrangement.
While it exported more than 30 million tons of grain in the 2022-2023 season, Ukraine, according to Vysotsky, has about the same amount of grain still being stored in the country, noting that Russia-caused delays impose additional costs for the Ukrainian agro-industrial complex.
As of Feb. 13, Ukrainian grain exports for 2022–2023 growing season – which extends through June – have decreased 29% to 29.2 million tonnes due to a reduced crop and logistical challenges brought on by the Russian invasion.
Due to the difficulty of forecasting shipments from Ukrainian ports after March 20, the Ukrainian Ministry noted that there’s currently a certain decrease in prices for agricultural products.
Vysotsky explained that a similar downward trend in prices is also observed for wheat, barley, and partially oilseeds since all grain and oilseeds markets usually correlate with each other.
