Agriculture & Food

After Russia announced the suspension of the implementation of the agreement on the export of agricultural products from Black Sea ports, Ukraine's grain exports by sea stalled 30 days ago. Russian government officials said that Russia had a good harvest of grain this year and was ready to replace Ukraine in the international trade market.

Russia and Ukraine signed agreements with the United Nations and Türkiye respectively in July on the resumption of the export of agricultural products from Black Sea ports. The agreement includes establishing a joint coordination center in Istanbul, Türkiye and ensuring the safety of food transportation. Russia and Ukraine agree that neither party will attack the ships transporting agricultural products. On the 29th, Russia accused Ukraine of attacking Russian ships involved in ensuring the safety of grain transport corridors by sea, and announced the suspension of the implementation of the agreement on the export of agricultural products from Black Sea ports.

On the 30th, the Joint Coordination Center said that because the parties had not reached an agreement on the passage of grain carriers into and out of the Black Sea grain corridor, there was no arrangement for the passage of vessels that day.

The agreement on the export of agricultural products from the Black Sea port is valid for 120 days and will expire in November. The Russian side has repeatedly said that the contents of the agreement involving Russia have not been effectively implemented. In addition, most of the food shipped from Ukraine goes to the countries of the European Union, rather than to poorer countries in need of food.

On the 30th, Konstantin Kosachov, Vice Chairman of the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament), said through social media that Russia had a good harvest of grain this year and was ready to replace Ukraine in the international trade market. According to the Russian assessment, it is estimated that the Russian grain export will exceed 50 million tons in this harvest season; At least 50 countries are highly dependent on Russian agricultural products, including poorer African countries.

As one of the signatories of the agreement, Türkiye was exposed to be conducting "telephone diplomacy" with Russia. On the 30th, Russia Satellite News Agency quoted Turkish sources as saying that Türkiye and Russia had communicated about the agreement at all levels, but due to the complex situation, relevant details could not be disclosed.

According to the source, it is not clear what the fate of the agreement will be, but there is still hope that the parties can reach a consensus.

Russia and Ukraine are both major exporters of grain in international trade. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said that in the past three years, Russia and Ukraine together exported about 30% of the total international trade in wheat and 20% of the world's corn exports. Analysts pointed out that if the export agreement of agricultural products is terminated, it may once again push up food prices in the international trade market.