Ukraine pushed back on Russia’s apparent offer to extend the landmark grain-export deal by just 60 days when it comes up for renewal later this week.
(Bloomberg) — Ukraine pushed back on Russia’s apparent offer to extend the landmark grain-export deal by just 60 days when it comes up for renewal later this week.
The agreement, which was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, allows for extensions of at least 120 days, Ukrainian infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov wrote on Twitter. The current period of the deal to allow safe passage of crops from three Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea will expire on March 18.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative has enabled Ukraine to ship out more than 24 million tons of crops since it was sealed in July, helping drive down food-commodity costs that had soared to a record after Russia’s invasion initially disrupted trade flows. Wheat futures nudged higher on Monday but remain near a one-year low.
Talks between Russian and UN officials in Geneva on Monday have completed, and a more extensive statement is due later today, said Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the UN’s Secretary-General. “The United Nations remains totally committed to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, as well as our efforts to facilitate the export of Russian food and fertilizer,” he said.
“We’re waiting for the official position of the UN & Turkey as the guarantors of the initiative,” Ukraine’s Kubrakov wrote.
Earlier, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said in a statement that Moscow wouldn’t object to extending the agreement when it expires on March 18, but only for a period of 60 days.
Referring to a parallel agreement on Russia’s agricultural exports, Vershinin said in a statement that Russia’s further stance would be “will be determined upon the tangible progress on normalization of our agricultural exports, not in words, but in deeds,” including on issues including bank payments, logistics, insurance, and the reopening of a key ammonia pipeline.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative’s terms say it will remain in effect for 120 days from signing and can be automatically extended for the same period, unless one of the parties notifies their intent to terminate or amend it.
Ukraine is also moving grain by rail, road and river, but those routes can’t handle all of its flows. While Ukraine’s harvests have been battered by the war, it’s still an agricultural heavyweight and ranks among the world’s top shippers of staples from sunflower oil to wheat and corn.
Wheat futures in Chicago were up 0.7% after the comments from Russia and Ukraine. Prices have fallen for the past four weeks, with corn also declining.
–With assistance from Daryna Krasnolutska.
(Updates with Ukraine, Russia comment and details throughout)
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