Russia again blocked ship inspections in the Bosphorus. The “grain agreement” is under threat

Russia has for the second time blocked inspections of ships in the territorial waters of Turkey, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine reports.

Since April 10, the Russian side has unilaterally stopped the registration of vessels that are submitted to Ukrainian ports for the formation of an inspection plan.

Instead, the Russians form their own inspection plan, choosing vessels from the queue at their discretion. Because of this, for the second time in the nine months of the "grain agreement" there is no inspection plan, and not a single vessel has been inspected. This threatens the work of the initiative.

From November 2022, the Russians have been sabotaging and delaying inspections under various pretexts — because of this, the world market has not received 15-18 million tons of Ukrainian agricultural products.

Since April 2023, the Russian side has been trying to impose its own criteria for determining specific vessels that will work within the framework of the "grain agreement". In particular, since April 14, the Russians, without any explanation, have refused to register three ships (two of which are bound for China), for which the cargo is already waiting in the Ukrainian port "Pivdennyi".

• On July 22, 2022, Russia signed an agreement on unblocking the export of Ukrainian grain from the ports of Odesa, Pivdennyi, and Chornomorsk. Russia and Ukraine signed the agreement separately — each with the UN and Turkey. There are no signatures of Ukraine and Russia simultaneously on the same document. At the beginning of August, the first caravan of ships left the ports of Odesa.
• On November 17, 2022, the agreement was officially extended for another four months.
• On March 13, after negotiations with UN representatives, the Russian side agreed to extend the "grain agreement", but only for 60 days. However, Russiaʼs future position will depend on "progress in the export of Russian agricultural products." The Russian Federation wants the West to ease sanctions on Russian food and fertilizers.
• The Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov believes that Russiaʼs position to extend the "grain agreement" for 60 days contradicts this agreement, because it can be extended for at least 120 days.