Türkiye preparing to send 25K t of Ukrainian grain to Nigeria

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Türkiye Vasyl Bodnar said this in a comment to Ukrinform.

"This grain was delivered in bulk from one of the ports in Ukraine during the Black Sea Grain Initiative. It is now stored in Türkiye under the auspices of the UN World Food Program. It is important for us that we cooperate with the World Food Program to supply grain to countries such as Nigeria," Bodnar emphasized.

After visiting the port and the Fuat Sezgin vessel, which will deliver the cargo to Nigeria, the diplomat said that a total of 60 more ships are planned to be sent from different ports.

"This initiative will be implemented as the grain is used, either from Turkish ports or from other ports where it is currently stored. The key coordinator is the UN World Food Program, which uses the possibilities of loading either from Ukrainian ports or from those that were previously purchased or stored in Türkiye or other countries. In particular, we are talking about Spain, which is often mentioned as one of the destinations for Ukrainian grain," he said.

The captain of the ship that will be carrying Ukrainian grain to Africa told Ukrinform that the cargo will arrive in Nigeria in about a month.

"The grain that will be loaded on the ship for about 10 more days is 25,000 tons. After loading, we will head for Nigeria. The journey to the Nigerian coast will take about 20 more days and may also depend on weather conditions," said Tolga Özal, captain of the Fuat Sezgin vessel.

A representative of the UN World Food Program in Türkiye also visited the Samsun port and observed the work on grain packaging and shipment.

As Ukrinform reported, the second summit of the Ukrainian humanitarian initiative Grain from Ukraine under the auspices of Volodymyr Zelensky was held in Kyiv on November 25.

The summit resulted in the adoption of a joint statement supported by 23 countries. The United Nations was represented by Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Later, the UN Secretary-General's spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, told Ukrinform that the sea corridor for grain exports organized by Ukraine has a positive impact on world markets, but they need not only increased supplies but also stability.