A Marine Traffic data site has reported that the last ship to sail under the Black Sea Grain Initiative left the country’s port of Odesa on the Black Sea on 16th July. Since then, Russia has confirmed to the UN that it will not renew the agreement.
The final ship, TQ Samsun, left after 08:00 local time on 16th June – a claim supported by Reuters news agency. The ship was marked with a Turkish flag, and had set its course to Istanbul, Turkey.
The Ukraine grain deal was put in place to allow the country to export over 32 million tonnes of grain across the Black Sea despite the presence of the war.
Ukraine supplies the world with a large portion of sunflower, maize, wheat and barley. When Russia attacked Ukraine, Russian vessels blocked Ukrainian ports, trapping 20 million tonnes of grain and sending global food prices soaring, threatening food supplies to Middle Eastern and African countries as well as leaving UK supermarket shelves empty.
It was originally settled that the grain deal would be extended every 120 days, but in March and May 2023 Russia only agreed to 60 day extensions.
Russia has pulled out of the deal, stating that it is “being prevented from adequately exporting its own produce,” but that it will re-join the Black Sea Grain Initiative when it has finished exporting its goods.
The UN has stated that last year, Ukraine supplied more than half of the World Food Programme’s total wheat procurement, and in the last month exports have dropped by nearly 30% as talks about extending the deal have continued.
According to UN News, UN humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths reiterated “the importance of the Initiative for global food security.”
