Six more grain ships leave Ukrainian ports

Six ships carrying 355,000 tonnes of Ukrainian agricultural products departed from Ukraine's Black Sea ports on Thursday, January 5.

According to Ukrinform, the press service of the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry said this in a post on Facebook.

"Grain initiative: six ships exported 355,000 tonnes of agricultural products from the ports of the Odesa region," the report said.

It added that 13 vessels were being loaded with 282,000 tonnes of agricultural products in the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi. The ports are ready to receive six more vessels that are moving along the "grain corridor."

As many as 102 vessels are awaiting inspection in the Bosphorus.

According to the report, the Russian side continues to slow down inspections under any pretext, limiting the export of Ukrainian agricultural products to world markets.

In total, since August 1, 626 ships have departed from Ukraine's Black Sea ports and exported 16.8 million tonnes of Ukrainian foodstuffs to countries in Asia, Europe, and Africa.

In Istanbul on November 17, Ukraine, the United Nations and Turkey agreed to extend the Initiative on the Safe Transportation of Grain and Foodstuffs from Ukrainian ports for another 120 days. The initiative was launched on July 22, and the first ship with Ukrainian foodstuffs left the port of Odesa on August 1.