The UN and Turkey, which brokered the so-called Black Sea Wheat Initiative in July, approved the resumption of shipments, which had been halted on Sunday. Russia’s decision on Saturday rattled global markets, pushing up wheat prices. Oleksander Kubrakov, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, said on Monday that “12 ships have left Ukrainian ports” and another four are heading to the Ukrainian coast to load. “The delegations of the United Nations and Turkey are providing 10 inspection teams to inspect 40 ships with the aim of fulfilling the Black Sea Initiative. This inspection plan was accepted by the Ukrainian delegation. The Russian delegation has been informed,” he tweeted. It is unclear how Russia will respond to Monday’s missions. Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, questioned the feasibility of continued Ukrainian seaborne grain exports without Russia’s support. “In conditions where Russia talks about the impossibility of guaranteeing the safety of navigation in these areas, such an agreement is almost possible and takes on a different character: much more dangerous, dangerous and without guarantees,” the Interfax news agency reported. . Without clarifying whether Russia would try to stop such missions, he said “contacts continue with the Turkish side, as well as with the UN through diplomatic and other departments.”
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Insurers at Lloyd’s of London that provide cover for grain and other food shipped from Ukraine under the Black Sea deal said they will stop bidding on new shipments until a new deal is agreed. Chris McGill, head of marine cargo underwriting at insurer Ascot, said the insurance that had already been issued was still valid. He added: “We hope that the negotiations will be successful and we can resume quotations.” Russia announced on Saturday its decision to suspend participation in the deal, which included joint inspections of ships in Istanbul, after what it claimed was a Ukrainian attack on its navy ships in Sevastopol, the port on the Crimean peninsula that added in 2014. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will try to save the deal. “Although Russia is hesitant on this issue because it does not have the same ease, we will resolutely continue our efforts to serve humanity,” he said in a speech on Monday. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu on Monday that he expects Moscow to “reconsider” its decision to withdraw from the deal because the grain initiative must be kept separate from the conflict, according to a statement of his office. Turkey’s close ties with Kyiv and Moscow helped it broker the UN-backed deal in July, and more than 9 million tonnes of Ukrainian wheat and corn have now crossed the Black Sea. Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade rose as much as 7.7 percent to $8.93 a bushel on Monday morning and later traded up 5.7 percent to $8.29 a bushel. Corn rose nearly 3 percent to $7 a bushel. Analysts had warned that Russia’s withdrawal from the deal would hit the poorest nations hard, with the International Rescue Committee saying it would have “catastrophic consequences” for food supplies. Under the agreement, Moscow had guaranteed the safe passage of cargo ships carrying grain from previously blocked Black Sea ports. The suspension immediately affected 218 ships, Ukrainian authorities said. Of these, 95 had already left its ports, 101 were waiting to collect grain, and 22 were loaded and waiting to set sail. The UN, Turkey and Ukraine, which have been working with Russia to move the grain through the Black Sea, informed Moscow that 16 ships both inbound and outbound were to move through the grain corridor on Monday. The UN said some of those ships had sailed. Recommended The Kremlin’s announcement on Saturday surprised grain traders and analysts, who, while skeptical that the July deal would last beyond the mid-November deadline, did not expect a sudden end. Denis Voznesensky, agriculture analyst at Rabobank, said the short-term impact of the Russian move was evident in the rise in prices, which could be sustained if the deal is not saved. Ukraine, long known as the breadbasket of Europe, is the fifth largest exporter of wheat in the world. “If you’re a Ukrainian farmer, you have no incentive to plant while this is going on because the export market is gone,” Voznesenski said. Additional reporting by Robert Wright in London and Nic Fildes in Sydney
