Over 25 mln tons of grain shipped via Black Sea corridor: Defense Ministry

ANKARA

More than 25 million tons of grain have been exported to the world markets from Ukraine through the Black Sea corridor, the Turkish Defense Ministry has announced, days after the initiative was extended for another term.

A written statement by the Defense Ministry on March 31 informed the latest figures regarding the amount of grain transported through the Black Sea Initiative launched by Türkiye and the U.N. for the export of food products of the two warring states, Ukraine and Russia.

The total amount of grain shipped under this initiative since July 2022 has exceeded 25 million tons, the ministry stated, informing that 31 ships have carried more than 1.2 million tons of grain since March 19, the day the initiative was extended for another term. Türkiye, Ukraine and the U.N. say the deal was extended for 120 days, while Russia insists that it was prolonged only for 60 days.

A total of 851 ships have departed with full of grain from the Ukrainian ports since the agreement started to be implemented, the ministry recalled. Some 40 percent of the grain was exported to Europe, 30 percent to Asia, 13 percent to Türkiye, 12 percent to Africa and five percent to the Middle East, read the statement by the ministry.

The initiative was launched to avoid a growing food crisis after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Both Russia and Ukraine are the most important grain producers, but their export had significantly reduced due to the war. To overcome the problem, Türkiye and the U.N. initiated the grain deal with Russia and Ukraine for the resumption of their export.

So far, only Ukrainian products could be exported. The secondary sanctions on the shipment, payment and insurance have prevented the resumption of Russian exports, which created resentment in Moscow. Russia says it extended the deal only for 60 days to give time for resolving the problems before its exports.