ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The UN on Wednesday said the Ukraine landmark grain deal is off to a “very good start” as the first ship docked in Turkey.
Twelve vessels carrying over 370 thousand tons of grain and other foodstuff are authorized to depart Ukrainian ports under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, acting UN coordinator for the grain deal Fredrick Kenney told reporters, noting that the deal is off to a “very good start.”
“Those vessels had been stranded in the three ports covered by the initiative when the war started,” he added.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative allows for significant volumes of commercial food exports from three key Ukrainian ports in the black sea.
Russia and Ukraine in July sealed a landmark deal, brokered by the UN and Turkey, aimed at reliving a global food crisis caused by the blockade of Black Sea grain deliveries.
The agreement was hailed as an opportunity to tackle the global food crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The deal is expected to “last for 120 days,” Kenney added.
The first grain ship departing Ukraine since February arrived in Turkish water for inspection last week, before heading to Lebanon.
However, the ship failed to reach its destination as the Lebanese buyer canceled the deal once it was in the sea. It docked in Turkey’s Mediterranean Sea port on Wednesday, according to reports.
Russia launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine in February, leading to a global incline in food, oil, and petrol prices as exports from the neighboring countries diminished due to the war.
The resumption of the exportation of Ukrainian grain was widely welcomed as it is seen as a step to help alleviate the global food crisis that has plagued the world since Russia’s President Vladimir Putin sent Russian troops to Ukraine.
