Moscow has throttled the use of one of the three Ukrainian ports covered under a grain shipping deal in a bid to force Kyiv to allow more Russian ammonia to reach global markets, according to the United Nations.
Only 33 vessels departed from the three Ukrainian ports, down by half from April, and just three of those ships left from the port of Yuzhny/Pivdennyi, U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told a press briefing on Thursday.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative, a U.N.-brokered agreement signed between the world body, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey on July 22, 2022, is supposed to allow vital food supplies to reach global markets. It has been extended until mid-July.
"We are concerned about the continuous slowdown of the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative, observed particularly in the months of April and May," Dujarric said. "Exports in May reached 1.3 million metric tons of grains and other foodstuffs. That is less than half of the previous month."
The reason, he explained, is that Russia informed the U.N.'s Black Sea Grain Initiative Joint Coordination Center of its decision to limit registrations to the port of Yuzhny/Pivdennyi as long as ammonia is not exported.
"The limited registrations and reduced inspection teams contributed to the drop of the average daily inspection rate down to three. This is a very serious situation," he said.
Moscow wants to force Kyiv to allow the transit of ammonia, a key ingredient in nitrogen-based fertilizers, to resume through Ukrainian territory. It also wants the Russian Agricultural Bank reconnected to the SWIFT international payment system.
Before its expanded invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Russia exported more than 4 million metric tons of ammonia a year, or 20% of the global sea trade.
Unconditional access sought
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Yuzhny/Pivdennyi port is "actually blocked" and more than 1.5 million metric tons of agricultural products are awaiting shipment there.
"And this grain is expected by at least 10 countries, including Turkey, Egypt, Bangladesh and China. Obviously, the less food is supplied to these countries, to these regions, the higher the food prices are, the more people in these countries lose from their family budgets," he said. "That is, the blockade of one port in Ukraine creates extremely severe risks for different nations."
After the fighting began in Ukraine, one of the world's biggest food suppliers, the disruptions in supply chains caused global food prices to spike. Developing nations were hit the hardest until the grain deal began to bring down food prices.
"We need to move forward," said Dujarric, noting the grain deal must be renewed again soon or it will expire after July 17. "Global hunger hotspots are increasing — as we have been notifying you on a regular basis — and the specter of food inflation and market volatility lurks in all countries."
As the arbiter of the deal, the U.N. Secretariat said it made strategic and operational suggestions for ensuring the exports of grain, food and fertilizers, including ammonia, that will curb global hunger and ease high food prices.
"In particular, we are looking for commitments on unconditional access of vessels to all three ports under the Initiative," said Dujarric, "increased number of successful inspections completed per day and predictable registrations to avoid undue delay of vessels, exports of fertilizers — and that includes ammonia — and the resumption of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline."
