Officials from Ukraine, UN hopeful first grain shipments will leave Odesa, other ports by day’s end

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Officials from Ukraine and the United Nations expressed hope on Friday that the first ships loaded with grain will be able to leave Odesa and two other Ukrainian Black Sea ports by the end of the day. But last-minute haggling with Russia over the route for the vessels meant that no ships had left as of Friday evening.

“We are ready for the implementation of this initiative, 200 per cent,” Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov told a news conference in Odesa on Friday. “We are waiting for final approval.”

Last week, representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the United Nations signed an agreement that would allow the resumption of shipping out of Odesa and two other nearby ports – Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi. The ports have been closed since Russian invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 and roughly 20 million tonnes of wheat, corn, rye, barley and oil seeds has been sitting in storage. Much of that produce is destined for countries in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia, including several that are on the brink of famine.

Anxiety grows among Ukrainian farmers over fate of grain exports despite deal with Russia

Under the deal, Ukrainian military boats will escort cargo ships out of the ports. Russia has promised not to attack the ships, or any port infrastructure. Turkey and the UN will also inspect the cargo ships to make sure they are not smuggling weapons.

But the deal has been hung up on the route the ships will take. Ukraine wants to follow a route along its coastline while Russia is insisting that the ships sail closer to Crimea, which is under Russian control. The UN is trying to broker a compromise.

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On Friday morning, Mr. Kubrakov gathered at the port with diplomats from the UN, Turkey and G7 countries in a show of support for the agreement. They stood next to a giant Turkish cargo ship that has been loaded with more than 23,000 tonnes of grain. The ship is among more than two dozen that have been stuck in Odesa and the other Black Sea ports since the war started.

The agreement “is important for the world,” said Osnat Lubrani, a UN coordinator for the deal. “It will help to prevent a global food crisis. I really think that today is very important and I too hope that there will be good news later in the day.”

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Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine, Larisa Galadza, said the deal was critical in preventing a global food crisis. And she urged Russia not to delay the shipments. “As you can all see the ships are here, they are loaded, they are ready to go and more ships are starting to be loaded today,” Ms. Galadza told the news conference. “We call on Russia to agree to the corridors that are needed to ship the grain.”

In the nearby port of Chornomorsk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky toured the operations on Friday and watched as ships were loaded with grain. “You see commercial operators working,” he said in a video statement released to the media. “Our country is ready and we transferred that signal to our partners, the United Nations and Turkey.” While he expressed hope that shipments will begin on Friday, he also struck a note of caution. “We don’t know how this process will go and we know whom we are dealing with,” he said alluding to Russia. “For us it’s very important that Ukraine will remain a guarantor for food security.”

Serhey Chernikov, who manages part of the port, said the Turkish ship, the Navi Star, arrived in Odesa on Feb. 22 and was loaded with grain two days later, just as the first Russian bombs fell. But Mr. Chernikov said the ship and its crew were ready to leave as soon as the routes are finalized.

Many people in Odesa and the other ports are skeptical the agreement will hold. They noted that a day after signing the deal, Russia launched a missile attack on Odesa. Russian officials have also insisted that their military will continue to attack military targets in Odesa.

“How many sober captains or ship owners would love to go into a possible situation like already happened?” said Viktor Korobko, manager of VEA Brokers, a grain trader in Odesa, referring to the missile attack.

Another major hurdle in getting ships moving again was cleared on Friday when Lloyd’s of London announced a new insurance facility for Ukrainian shipments. The policies will cover up to US$50-million per vessel, per voyage. Ascot Group, which is part of the Lloyd’s syndicate, is the main insurer backing the policies which involves more than 10 companies to spread the risk.

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