Key deal gets Ukraine grain shipments moving

LONDON • More than one million tonnes of grain have been exported from Ukraine under a deal to end Russia's blockade of Black Sea ports, said United Nations (UN) officials on Saturday, hailing what they called a "remarkable" achievement but acknowledging that there was still a long way to go.

The grain deal, brokered by the UN and Turkey last month, got cargo vessels moving again, after the months-long blockade aggravated a global food crisis, helped stoke famine in Africa and contributed to soaring prices.

Ukrainian officials estimate the blockade trapped about 20 million tonnes of grain in silos.

On Saturday, the UN credited the deal with helping to drive down prices and restore confidence as the world grapples with food insecurity.

It said in a statement that 100 inspections of cargo vessels bound for three continents had been carried out by the Joint Coordination Centre, which was created under the deal and is staffed by officials from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN.

Not all the vessels are necessarily going to countries facing food shortages because many of the ships are carrying grain purchased under commercial contracts, but the UN said the deal allowed it to start purchasing wheat from Ukraine for its humanitarian operations.

This month, the Brave Commander - the first ship specially chartered by the World Food Programme - departed from a port near Odesa with a shipment eventually bound for Ethiopia.

The UN warned that "much more needs to be done" to get the grain moving.

It said millions of tonnes of food from previous harvests in Ukraine still need to be cleared to make room in silos for the next harvest.

"The silos in Ukraine are still stocked with millions of tonnes of produce from previous harvests," Mr Amir Abdulla, UN coordinator for the grain initiative, noted in an e-mail statement.

"Much more grain needs to shift to make space for the new harvest."

Before the war, Ukraine supplied about 45 million tonnes of grain a year to the world market, according to the UN.

NYTIMES, REUTERS