More than 450,000 tons of food were taken out of Ukraine as part of the “grain deal”

More than 450,000 tons of food were exported from Ukraine as part of the “grain deal” by 16 ships says in a statement by the Interdepartmental Coordinating Headquarters of Russia for Humanitarian Response.

“As part of the implementation of the “Initiative of Mutual Understanding for the Safe Transportation of Grain from the Ports of Ukraine”, from August 1, 2022, 16 ships left Ukrainian ports, 453,246 tons of food were exported, including: 379,981 tons of corn, 50,301 tons of flour, 11 000 tons of soybeans, 6,000 tons of sunflower oil, 3,050 tons of wheat, 2,914 tons of sunflower,” it was reported.

The headquarters specify that in six ports – in Kherson, Nikolaev, Chernomorsk, Ochakov, Odessa and Yuzhny – 56 foreign ships from 14 states remain blocked.

On July 22, representatives of Turkey and the UN signed separate agreements with representatives of Russia and Ukraine on the export of Ukrainian grain, as well as on assistance in the export of Russian grain and fertilizers. On July 27, the Joint Coordination Center for the export of grain began its work in Istanbul. On August 3, as part of the “grain deal”, the first dry cargo ship Razoni left the port of Odessa. The Sierra Leone-flagged ship carrying 26,000 tons of corn was to head for Lebanon. Buyer in the end refused to acquire the first batch of Ukrainian grain due to a delay in delivery, the Ukrainian Embassy in Lebanon reported.

On August 11, Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Ivan Nechaev declaredthat the destinations of ships leaving the ports of Ukraine with grain are in Western countries, and not in the starving states of Africa. According to him, the range of cargoes is dominated not by wheat, the shortage of which in Africa and the Middle East was mentioned by Western politicians, but by corn and sunflower oil, and they are being transported to European ports. This, according to Nechaev, raises doubts that global food security really depended on the grain deal to unblock Ukrainian ports.