Turkish President counts on revival of the Black Sea grain deal
The issue of insurance of ships will be discussed with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres later this month
The revival of last year's historic Black Sea grain deal that helped ease the global food crisis was a top issue at the meeting of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Anadolu cites Erdogan as telling reporters on the presidential plane while returning from a visit to Russia.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he believes a "good result" on revival of the Black Sea grain deal that will meet necessary expectations will shortly be reached.
"Revitalization of the initiative is a priority for the whole world. We are in close contact with the UN on this issue," Erdogan said.
Erdogan said he will discuss the issue with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York later this month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
When speaking about Russia’s demands, Erdogan mentioned the inclusion of the Russian agricultural bank in the SWIFT (international banking) system since currently, Russian banks are out of the SWIFT system due to sanctions, and the insurance of ships used for transportation.
On Aug. 28, Erdogan said Guterres proposed not returning to SWIFT as the Russians have sought, but instead an intermediary mechanism that is similar to SWIFT.
Erdogan reminded that Russia exports up to 120-130 million tonnes of grain per year.
The agreements on the export of food from Ukraine were concluded in Istanbul on July 22 for a period of 120 days and were extended in November for another 120 days. Besides, a Russia-UN Memorandum was signed to lift restrictions on export of Russia’s fertilizers and agricultural products to the global markets.
Russia has repeatedly expressed claims about the insufficient export of grain from the territory of Ukraine to countries in need. Besides, the Russian Federation has repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that Russian agricultural products and fertilizers have limited access to world markets.
The grain deal agreements ceased to function on 17 July 2023.
