Ukraine to conduct test run for Black Sea grain shipment

KYIV • Ukraine is ready to start shipping grain from two Black Sea ports under a United Nations-brokered agreement, but no date has been set for the first shipment, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said yesterday.

He told reporters in the southern port of Odesa that 17 vessels trapped by a five-month Russian blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports were already loaded with grain, and another was now being loaded. He hoped the first vessels would start leaving port by the end of this week.

Separately, President Volodymyr Zelensky visited a port in southern Ukraine to oversee grain being loaded for export onto a Turkish ship, the presidency said yesterday, following the deal with Russia brokered by the UN and Turkey.

"The first vessel, the first ship is being loaded since the beginning of the war. This is a Turkish vessel," Mr Zelensky said, according to a statement from the presidency.

Video footage from the Chornomorsk port released by the presidency showed him in front of a ship called Polarnet.

The statement said exports could start in "the coming days" under the plan aimed at getting millions of tonnes of Ukrainian grain stranded by Russia's naval blockade to world markets.

"Our side is fully prepared. We sent all the signals to our partners - the UN and Turkey, and our military guarantees the security situation. The minister of infrastructure is in direct contact with the Turkish side and the UN. We are waiting for a signal from them that we can start," Mr Zelensky was quoted as saying.

Ukraine's Sea Ports Authority told companies that a small test boat was set to sail yesterday, in a potentially encouraging sign that the grain shipments are closer to restarting.

Ukraine's Sea Ports Authority told companies at a meeting on Thursday that a small test boat would sail yesterday, said Mr Shota Khajishvili, the co-founder of Risoil, which operates a terminal at Chornomorsk port. Mr Khajishvili said he had two ships ready that he was hoping could sail today if the test run goes to plan.

A trader who has a shipment waiting to depart at the same port said separately they had also been notified about yesterday's test, while asking not to be identified discussing private dealings.

A successful resumption of grain and oilseed shipments from Ukraine is seen as key to easing a global food crisis, but many analysts and western officials have been sceptical about whether last week's deal can be implemented.

Shipowners are facing myriad challenges including getting insurance and recruiting crews to operate the ships as safety concerns remain.

Separately, UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said on Thursday he was hopeful that the first shipment of grain from a Ukrainian Black Sea port could take place as early as yesterday, but "crucial" details for the safe passage of vessels were still being worked out.

Mr Griffiths said Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian military officials were working with a UN team at a Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul to hammer out standard operating procedures for the deal agreed by the four parties on July 22.

Mr Griffiths said one aspect being negotiated is the exact coordinates of the safe shipping channels. Shipping companies and the insurers that cover vessels need to be assured that the journey is secure with no threat of mines or attacks to both the ships and their crews.

While Mr Griffiths stressed that the operation to resume Ukraine grain exports was commercial - not humanitarian - he said the UN hoped poorer countries would be given priority, specifically citing Somalia, where nearly a quarter of a million people are facing starvation.

He said the UN World Food Programme is "actively looking" at buying Ukraine grain.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS