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Russia is 99.9% certain it will pull out of a UN-brokered deal on the safe passage of Black Sea grain next month as it no longer needs Ukrainian ports to export ammonia, a senior Ukrainian diplomat said.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grains Initiative with Moscow and Kiev last July to help address a global food crisis worsened by Russia's invasion of the neighboring country and a blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports.
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Moscow has threatened not to extend the deal beyond July 18 unless a series of demands, including the removal of obstacles to Russian grain and fertilizer exports, are met.
The Black Sea export agreement also allows for the safe export of ammonia — an important ingredient in nitrate fertilizer — but no cargo has been shipped under the initiative.
Russia has been pushing for the resumption of ammonia supplies through a pipeline that crosses Ukraine to the Black Sea port of Odesa, which has been inactive since last year.
Olha Trofimtseva, ambassador-at-large of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, said that Russian ammonia producer Uralchem has found an alternative route and does not need to export ammonia via Odesa.
“The grain aisle. 99.9% that Russia will leave it in July,” Trofimtseva said on messaging app Telegram on Wednesday evening.
Uralchem CEO Dmitry Konyaev said last month that a specialized ammonia terminal, the first stage of construction of which is expected to be completed on Russia's Taman Peninsula by the end of 2023, could replace the pipeline to Odesa.
Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky said this month that Kiev has a Plan B if Russia decides to abandon the Black Sea agreement.
He said the government had created a special insurance fund of about $547 million for companies with ships that could arrive at Ukrainian Black Sea ports under a new agreement.
Ukraine has also said it can export grain through its small Danube river ports as well as through its western border with the European Union.
Source: Pavel Polityuk | Notícias Agrícolas
