Russia blocks fleets with Ukrainian grain from accessing largest port within Grain Initiative

The Ukrainian Ministry of Communities and Territories Development states that Russia has been blocking incoming fleets from accessing the Pivdennyi seaport for almost a month now. 

Source: This was reported by the press service of the Ministry on Facebook

Details: The Ministry reports that although the Black Sea Grain Initiative has resumed its operations, Russia has been blocking incoming fleets from accessing the Pivdennyi seaport, the deepest port in the region, for almost a month now. At the moment, the Pivdennyi seaport has effectively ceased functioning due to lack of fleet. 

Russia ceaselessly refused to inspect and register vessels unilaterally for the Port of Pivdennyi, providing no reasons for their decision. For example, on Friday, 19 May, three vessels bound for the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk underwent inspections.

Quote: "On Saturday, May 20th, the Russian delegation to the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) agreed to conduct six inspections of incoming fleets at the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk, but conducted only 2. Yet again, Russia removed all ships declared for the Pivdennyi port from both the registration list and the inspection plan," the message states.

The same thing occurred on Sunday 21 May, when the Russian delegation agreed to conduct only 4 inspections – but again, without vessels going to the Port of Pivdennyi.

"The aggressor country has been pursuing such a destructive policy since April 29, 2023, for almost a month. Currently, in the Port of Yuzhny (Russian for Pivdennyi, i.e. Southern – ed)., over 1.5 million tonnes of agricultural products for ten countries are supposed to be loaded onto 26 vessels, which are still waiting in the territorial waters of Türkiye."

The Ukrainian side appealed to the partners in the agreement to resolve this issue, since the non-admission of ships to the Pivdennyi port is evidence that the grain agreement is not working on the terms signed by all parties.

Earlier: 

Russia agreed to resume inbound inspections of ships entering two of the three ports covered by the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine and Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, said that the Black Sea Grain Initiative has been unblocked and will continue to operate until 18 July.

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