photo credit: Yonhap News
The Ukrainian government says export of grain through the Black Sea is expected to begin as early as this week.
Ukraine’s infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said at a press conference that he hoped to start the first grain shipments this week, Reuters reported.
“In the next two weeks, preparations for export of grain can be completed at three ports, including Odessa,” Kubrakou said.
He added that if exports through the Black Sea are resumed, at least $1 billion a month in imports of about 1.3 trillion won is expected.
“We expect that the first shipment will be launched in Chornomorsk on the 27th local time,” said an official from the Ukraine Ministry of Infrastructure.
On the 22nd, Ukraine and Russia, the United Nations and Turkey finally signed the grain export negotiations through the Black Sea.
However, the day after the agreement, Russia fired a missile at Odessa, one of the grain export ports, raising concerns that the grain export agreement might be broken.
In response, Russia said it had “destroyed a warship and missile storage in Odessasan” and said, “It has nothing to do with the grain agreement.”
