AmCham Ukraine member companies are concerned about the current situation related to the disruption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative operation, violation of free commercial navigation in the Black Sea region, and approach of Russian side on weaponization of food.
Due to the disruption of the Initiative operation and destructive actions of Russian inspectors in the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul approximately 25 million tons of agricultural products have not been shipped to international markets, including cargo to the African continent and countries with high hunger rates, such as Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan, and others. This critical situation jeopardizes global food supply chains and global food security, including increasing food prices and hunger rates worldwide.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative crisis led to an extreme reduction of Ukrainian grain and oilseeds export volumes as no vessels were approved for the Pivdennyi Seaport since May 19, 2023, while Russian inspectors stopped the registration of the new vessels on June 26, 2023. Since March 2023, de facto operation of the grain corridors has been regularly artificially blocked by the Russian inspectors at the JCC in Istanbul by disruption of vessels’ inspections and violation of free commercial navigation in the Black Sea region respectively. Approximately 1 or 2 vessel(s) out of 20 needed for full-scale operation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative was/were inspected per day.
To ensure uninterrupted and continuous export of Ukrainian grain and oilseeds to the world markets from Ukrainian Black Sea ports, AmCham Ukraine calls on the United Nations and the Republic of Turkey as parties of the Black Sea Grain Initiative to take measures to stabilize the Black Sea grain corridors full-scale operation and safe navigation of commercial vessels in the Black Sea region to avoid global food security crisis.
We are grateful to the United Nations and the Republic of Turkey, the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority and for all efforts aiming to ensure the maritime export of Ukrainian grain and oilseeds in the framework of the Black Sea Grain Initiative that provided Ukrainian farmers with the opportunity to ship over 33 million tons of agricultural products to 45 countries by grain corridors and hope that respective measures will be taken to ensure further uninterrupted functioning of the Black Sea grain corridors.
