By Guy Faulconbridge
MOSCOW, April 12 (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Wednesday that prospects for the landmark UN-brokered Black Sea grain deal were not good as promises to remove barriers to exports had not been fulfilled. Russian agricultural products and fertilizers.
The grain deal is an attempt to ease a food crisis that preceded Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but has been exacerbated by the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two.
The deal, which expires next month in its current form, was initially signed by Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations in July last year and extended twice.
On paper, it allows the export of food and fertilizer, including ammonia, from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports. But Moscow claims that Russian food and fertilizer exports are jeopardized by obstacles — such as insurance and payment barriers — that it believes must be removed.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said the current deal does not work for Russia, despite some efforts by the United Nations to get the parts of the deal related to Moscow’s interests implemented.
“No agreement can stand on one leg: it must stand on two legs,” Peskov told reporters. “In this sense, of course, judging by the current situation, the prospects (of its expansion) are not very good.”
Russia and Ukraine are two of the world’s largest producers of agricultural commodities and major players in the markets for wheat, barley, corn, rapeseed, rapeseed oil, sunflower seeds, and sunflower oil. Russia also dominates the fertilizer market.
More than 27 million tons of grains and other food products have been exported from Ukraine aboard 881 outbound vessels since the Black Sea Grains Initiative was launched in August, according to official data.
Last month, Russia said it would extend the deal for another 60 days, despite pressure from the United Nations, Ukraine and Turkey for a repeat of the 120-day extension. According to Moscow, the deal expires on May 18.
“Exactly half of this deal hasn’t worked and isn’t working until now,” Peskov said.
“We know that the UN representatives are making some efforts, but they are not succeeding and the second half of the agreement is still not working,” Peskov said.
Russia has repeatedly said that any further extension of the deal will require the West to meet a number of its demands, including reconnecting the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the SWIFT payment system.
Other demands are the resumption of the supply of agricultural machinery and parts, the lifting of restrictions on insurance and reinsurance, access to ports, the resumption of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline and the release of company assets and accounts. Russian companies dedicated to the export of food and fertilizers.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing in Spanish by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)
