Notice is given in a Note to reportersannounced on Saturday by the spokesman’s office of the United Nations Secretary-General, which emphasized that the Initiative enables “facilitation of safe navigation for the export of grain, food and related fertilizers, including ammonia, from designated Ukrainian seaports.”
Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces in February 2022, the Initiative was one of the few areas where the Russian and Ukrainian governments were able to reach an agreement. It was created in response to the sharp increase in food and fertilizer prices around the world: Russia and Ukraine are the main suppliers of these products to the world market and their ability to export is significantly limited. when the war started.
Since the signing of the Initiative in July 2022, approximately 25 million tons of grains and foodstuffs have been shipped to 45 countries and the initiative is credited with helping to calm global food prices. , which hit a dizzying high in March 2022. During the Initiative, prices began to fall and a year later fell about 18%.
This agreement was brokered by the United Nations and the Government of Türkiye, thanked in the statement for its diplomatic and operational support: as part of the agreement, a Joint Coordination Center (JCC) was established in Istanbul, to oversee the implementation of the Initiative.
The note to reporters reaffirmed the UN’s strong commitment to both agreements and described the Black Sea Grains Initiative, along with a Memorandum of Understanding on the promotion of food and fertilizer products. Russian fertilizers to the world market, are “important to global food security, especially for developing countries.”
