Russian fertilizers and agricultural products must be able to access world markets “unhindered”, at the risk of a world food crisis as early as next year, said Saturday in Istanbul the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres.
“It is important that governments and the private sector cooperate to get them to market,” he said from the Joint Coordination Center (JCC), which oversees the application of the export agreement. of Ukrainian cereals signed in July by kyiv and Moscow under the aegis of the UN and Turkey.
This agreement also guarantees that Russia can export its agricultural products and fertilizers despite Western sanctions.
“What we see here in Istanbul and Odessa is only the most visible part of the solution. The other part of this comprehensive deal is unhindered access to global markets for Russian food and fertilizer products, which are not subject to sanctions,” Guterres said, pointing out that despite this Russian exports Fertilizers and agricultural products were still encountering ‘obstacles’.
“Without fertilizer in 2022, there may not be enough food in 2023. Getting more food and fertilizer out of Ukraine and Russia is key to calming markets […] and lower prices for consumers,” he said.
Mr. Guterres traveled to Ukraine this week, where he met Ukrainian and Turkish Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday in Lviv (west), before heading to Odessa (south) on Friday.
He went earlier on Saturday near the first humanitarian ship chartered by the UN to transport Ukrainian cereals, on the southern shores of Istanbul in the Sea of Marmara.
The Brave Commander, whose final destination is Djibouti, left the Ukrainian port of Pivdenny on Tuesday with 23,000 tonnes of wheat, before crossing the Bosphorus on Wednesday evening.
The UN secretary-general promised on Thursday that his organization would work to “intensify” Ukrainian grain exports ahead of the onset of winter, as grain is crucial for the food supply of many developing countries. ‘Africa.
Under the agreement signed in July, 650,000 tons of Ukrainian grain and agricultural products have left the Ukrainian ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Pivdenny since August 1.
Ships must use a secure corridor to circulate in the Black Sea and then be inspected by the Joint Coordination Center (CCC) before being authorized to cross the Bosphorus Strait.
Grain exports from Ukraine, one of the world’s leading producers and exporters, have been blocked for several months due to the Russian invasion, raising fears of a global food crisis.