UN concerned that Pivdennyi port has not received a single ship since May 2

The United Nations has expressed concern over the fact that Ukraine’s Pivdennyi port has not received a single ship since May 2 as part of the “grain initiative,” Reuters reports.

UN Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric did not say who was to blame for the absence of ships heading to the port near Odesa, from where Russia annually pumped up to 2.5 million tons of ammonia for export via a pipeline from Togliatti.

This pipeline was closed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prior to that, Russia exported 4.4 million tons of ammonia per year (20% of global maritime transportation).

“The Grain Initiative, the newspaper notes, allows Russia to safely export ammonia, so Moscow insists on reopening the ammonia pipeline, and last week agreed to extend the grain corridor.

A Ukrainian government source told the agency that Kyiv would consider allowing Russian ammonia to transit through its territory for export if the grain deal is expanded to include more Ukrainian ports and a wider range of goods.

Dujarric said that since the extension of the grain corridor, nine vessels have been inspected and cleared to sail, five of which are currently in the Ukrainian ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk loading products. According to the spokesperson, the Joint Coordination Center currently has 17 applications from vessels wishing to enter Ukraine, and that seven of them have been approved, so the vessels are awaiting inspection.

“Not a single vessel applying to ship food in Pivdennyi port has been allowed to register. Pivdennyi port has not received any vessels since May 2. We are concerned about this restriction and reiterate our call for a full reopening,” Dujarric told reporters.

This port accounts for a third of food supplies. In total, more than 30 million tons of products were exported from Ukrainian ports.

The UN Secretary-General’s spokesman also said that no fertilizers, including ammonia, have been exported under the grain deal.

Meanwhile, Russia has threatened not to extend the agreement unless a list of requirements related to obstacles to its own food and fertilizer exports is met. Another key demand of Moscow is to reconnect the Russian state-owned bank known as Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT international payment network.

Meanwhile, the EU’s spokesperson for foreign and security policy, Peter Stano, said that the bloc is not considering any re-operation with Russian banks.

As a reminder, on May 17, Turkish President Recep Erdogan announced that the “grain deal” had been extended for another 60 days. Subsequently, Ukraine’s ambassador to Turkey said that the agreement does not provide for the fulfillment of Russia’s demands – the issues of the ammonia pipeline and the lifting of sanctions against Russian banks initiated by Moscow are currently being discussed.

Later, Yuriy Vaskov, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Reconstruction, said that the Black Sea Grain Corridor had not resumed operations and that dozens of ships were awaiting inspection.

The day before, the Ministry of Infrastructure said that Russia had blocked the largest port of the grain corridor and that more than 1.5 million tons of agricultural products for ten countries were currently stuck in Pivdennyi.

Tags: Pivdennyi port, Black Sea grain corridor