(London) The amount of grains and cereals leaving Ukraine has fallen even though an agreement negotiated by the United Nations (UN) allows food to continue to flow to developing countries. Ship inspections are down to half of what they were four months ago, ahead of the symbolic date marking Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago.
Ukraine and some US officials blame Russia for slowing down these inspections, which Moscow has denied. The dwindling export volume of wheat, barley and other grains from Ukraine, dubbed the “food pantry of the world”, raises concerns about the impact on people suffering from starvation in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia – places that depend on affordable food supplies from the Black Sea region.
The hurdles stand as separate agreements brokered last summer by Turkey and the UN to ensure the transport of supplies and reduce soaring food prices are up for renewal next month.
Russia is also one of the world’s leading suppliers of wheat, grain, sunflower oil and fertilizers, and there are complaints from the agriculture industry in particular about delays in the shipment of nutrients essential to their crops.
Food exports from three Ukrainian ports fell from 3.7 million tons in December to 3 million in January, the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul said. This is where inspection teams from Russia, Ukraine, the UN and Turkey ensure that ships only carry agricultural products and not weapons.
The drop in supply is equivalent to about one month of food consumption for Kenya and Somalia combined. It follows average inspections per day which slowed to 5.7 last month and 6 this month, from a high of 10.6 daily inspections in October.
There are 152 vessels waiting in waters off Turkey to be screened or join the Black Sea Grain Initiative, according to the Joint Coordination Center.
This month, ships are waiting an average of 28 days between application for participation and inspection, said Ruslan Sakhautdinov, head of the Ukrainian delegation at the center. This is one week more than in January.
Factors such as poor weather conditions hampering the work of inspectors, demand from shippers to participate in the initiative, port activity and vessel capacity also impact shipments.