Last ship under grain deal leaves port of Odesa on Sunday

11:36, 17.07.2023 1 min read

The last ship under the UN-brokered grain deal left the port of Odesa on Sunday morning, Reuters reported.

The grain agreement expires on Monday. Moscow does not intend to prolong it and has not agreed on the registration of new vessels since June 27.

A UN spokesman said on Friday that Secretary General António Guterres was waiting for a response from Russian President Vladimir Putin on a proposal to extend the deal, Reuters said.

According to the Kremlin, Putin told South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in a telephone conversation on Saturday that commitments to remove obstacles to Russian food and fertilizer exports had not yet been fulfilled.

The Tq Samsun vessel may be the last ship to sail under the Black Sea Grain Initiative. According to the UN, there are more than 23,000 tonnes of corn and more than 15,000 tonnes of rapeseed on board. The ship is bound for the Netherlands.

As reported, the grain deal was concluded in Istanbul on July 22, 2022 with the participation of the UN, Ukraine, Turkey and Russia.