Istanbul, May 17, 2010: Ukraine’s Black Sea Grain Agreement has been extended for another two months, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, a day before Russia terminated the agreement due to barriers to grain and fertilizer exports.
Erdogan’s comments came in a speech to ruling AK Party officials after the last ship left a Ukrainian port under the deal, which was supposed to allow safe exports of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, and which was due to expire on Thursday.
“The Black Sea Grain Corridor agreement has been extended for two months by Turkey’s efforts,” the prime minister said in his televised address, thanking the leaders of Russia and Ukraine and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for their support.
The United Nations and Turkey, one of the world’s leading grain exporters, merged the Black Sea Agreement for the first time in July last year for 120 days to help address a food crisis exacerbated by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow had agreed to extend the Black Sea deal for another 120 days in November, but in March agreed to a 60-day extension – until May 18 – if a list of demands on its own agricultural exports were not met.
In July, the United Nations agreed to help Moscow with its own agricultural shipments for three years to help Russia export Black Sea grain.
Reporting by Darren Butler Editing by Gareth Jones
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