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| Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Guarantees Grain Export Corridor in the Black Sea to Work Soon |
Istanbul - The Black Sea corridor for exporting grain and agricultural products to world markets will start functioning in the coming days. This was confirmed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, Friday (22/7/2022).
Erdogan also thanked the presidents of Russia and Ukraine for their contributions to solving the grain export issue. Quoted from TASS. President Erdogan said "I would like to take this opportunity to thank His Excellency the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky and His Excellency the President of Russia Vladimir Putin for their leadership, thanks to which the movement of ships in the Black Sea will be restored in the Black Sea in the coming days.
The deal was signed by representatives of Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and the United Nations in Istanbul on Friday. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu signed the agreement on behalf of Russia and his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar signed the deal on behalf of Turkey. While on the part of Ukraine, the deal was signed by the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Alexander Kubrakov.
On behalf of the United Nations, the wheat export agreement was signed by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat welcomed the signing of the agreement to build a corridor for transporting agricultural products out of Ukraine.
"Moussa Faki Mahamat welcomes the signing by Russia and Ukraine of an agreement under the auspices of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the export of grains and agricultural products through the Black Sea," read a statement, posted on the organization's website.
Under the Russia-UN memorandum, the United Nations pledged to seek to lift anti-Russian restrictions that hamper exports of agricultural products and fertilizers. Another document describes the mechanism for grain exports from Ukrainian-controlled Black Sea ports.
An agreement between Russia, Turkey and the United Nations stipulates the creation of a quadrangular coordination center to inspect ships carrying grain to prevent arms smuggling and rule out provocations. Chairman of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat said previously the continent had suffered greatly from the crisis in Ukraine, which caused food and fuel prices for Africans to soar.
Russia is one of Africa's largest suppliers of wheat and other grains, as well as fertilizers and fuel. Due to supply disruptions, caused by Western sanctions, prices for food and fuel in Africa have spiked since February.