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| The Black Sea Grain Initiative was signed separately by Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul with Türkiye and the United Nations on July 22, 2022. (Source: AFP) |
The United Nations continues to promote Russian food and fertilizer exports as a parallel agreement to the Black Sea Grains Initiative, which allows Ukrainian agricultural exports from Black Sea ports, a UN spokesman said on May 26.
The United Nations is working with the African Export-Import Bank to design a trade finance platform to facilitate efficient transactions between Russian food and fertilizer exporters and African customers, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that if Rosselkhozbank is not connected to SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) and there is no progress in resolving other systemic issues that are hindering Russian agricultural exports, the Black Sea Grains Initiative will also have to look for alternative solutions.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative was signed by Russia and Ukraine separately in Istanbul with Türkiye and the United Nations on July 22, 2022. The initial agreement was valid for 120 days, with a 120-day extension in mid-November 2022 until March 18, 2023. At that time, Russia only agreed to extend the agreement by 60 days, until May 18, 2023. On May 17, Russia agreed to extend the agreement by another 60 days.
As a parallel agreement, Russia and the United Nations signed a memorandum of understanding on facilitating Russian exports of food and fertilizers.
In a related development, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said on May 26 that China hopes the Black Sea grain deal can be implemented in a balanced and comprehensive manner, and wants to cooperate on global food security.
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