Ukraine to resume grain exports this week, says minister

Lviv, Ukraine, Jul 25 (EFE).- The Ukrainian government will resume maritime grain exports later this week, infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Monday.

Some 3 million tons of cereals are to be exported per month via Red Sea ports under a Ukrainian-Russian agreement reached a few days ago in Istanbul, Kubrakov said at a press conference according to Interfax.

A coordination center will be created in Istanbul to supervise the humanitarian corridor for the grain exports and will start operating on 27 July, he said.

Demining work will be carried out exclusively in the corridors created to allow the departure of grain shipments and all vessels will be escorted by infrastructure ministry ships, he added.

The deputy infrastructure minister Yuri Vaskov, meanwhile, said that the first shipment of grain is scheduled to depart from the port of Chornomorsk, in the Odesa region.

The agreement signed on 22 July under the auspices of the United Nations and Turkey states the creation of maritime corridors to alleviate the food crisis triggered by the Russian blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

A day after signing the deal, Russia attacked the Odesa port, claiming it destroyed military infrastructure, while Kyiv considered it to be a “spit” in the face of the UN and Turkey. EFE

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