There are high chances that the first ship exporting grain will leave Ukraine on August 1.
This was stated by the spokesman of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"If all the details are completed by tomorrow, there is a high probability that the first vessel will leave the port tomorrow," spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told Turkish channel Kanal 7 on July 31. "Weʼll see the ships leave the ports next day at the latest."
CNN Turk also reports that the first caravan of sixteen vessels with Ukrainian grain may arrive at the Turkish port in Istanbul as early as August 3. After that, vessels with Ukrainian grain will be sent to African countries, in particular Somalia.
- Earlier this week, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine is ready to start shipping millions of tons of grain stored in its southern ports and is waiting for a signal from its partners — Turkey and the UN.
- On July 29, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine reported that the Odesa and Chornomorsk seaports have already loaded 17 ships with grain, ten of which are ready for shipment.
- On July 22, in Istanbul, at the suggestion of the United Nations, Ukraine, Turkey and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres signed the Initiative on the safe transportation of grain and food products from the Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdenny.