The landmark deal struck last month to free up Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and restart shipments of desperately needed grain to the world is a breakthrough that will help resolve the gridlock and overcome concerns over supply security, a senior Turkish official said Wednesday.
A deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations lifted a Russian naval blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea cities and set terms for millions of tons of wheat and other grain to start flowing from Ukraine’s filled silos and ports.
“Given the fact that there is around 25 million tons of grain here and that fresh crops will be arriving, a serious problem, particularly in terms of supply security, will be overcome,” Trade Minister Mehmet Muş told the second Turkey Export Mobilization summit.
The event was organized by Turkey’s leading media group and Daily Sabah's parent company, Turkuvaz Media, in the central province of Konya, known as the country’s wheat warehouse.
The parties to the agreement struck in Istanbul on July 22 pledged to create safe shipping corridors for exporting Ukraine’s agricultural products as Russia’s invasion of its neighbor continues.
The first grain ship to leave a Ukrainian port in wartime passed inspection and was heading through the Bosporus on Wednesday for a delivery that foreign powers hope will be the first of many to help ease a global food crisis.
The Razoni left Odessa on the Black Sea early on Monday carrying over 26,500 tons of corn to Lebanon and anchored at the entrance of the Bosporus Strait on Tuesday night.
“With the opening of this corridor, the raw materials that are needed will arrive. Along with this raw material that it will process, Turkey, as an exporter country, will be one of the countries that will be contributing to solving the supply shortage that may occur in the world,” Muş said.
“Konya, which stands out as the wheat warehouse of Turkey, is also an important commercial city in this area. With licensed warehouse spaces, it imports and processes grain,” he noted.
“Turkey imports wheat and processes the wheat it imports ... Turkey is the world’s largest flour exporter. The most important producer of pasta. It actually uses it as a raw material.”
Muş said Turkish vessels were due to depart Ukraine one by one, also stressing a number of other vessels that have been stuck at the ports of the embattled country.
He said Turkey has the capability to produce as much as it consumes, stressing certain gaps needed to be resolved.
The grain corridor is of “great importance” and is expected to push international food prices downward, Muş said.
“Even the signing of the deal has halted the upward trend, and now we will gradually see that there is a relaxation in market prices.”
