The number of ship calls to the ports of Greater Odesa to load agricultural products decreased

In February, only 71 vessels were inspected by the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul for entry into the ports of Greater Odesa to load Ukrainian agricultural products. This is 17 vessels less than in January. This was reported on Facebook by the press service of the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure.

Such negative dynamics is a consequence of Russia’s systemic destructive policy aimed at slowing down the inspection of ships in Turkey’s territorial waters.

In particular, all parties to the SCS, including Russia, agree to conduct 9 to 12 inspections per day. However, Russian inspectors perform no more than 6 without explanation. After that, the Russian inspectors stop working, making it impossible for the UN and Ukrainian inspectors to work.

In addition, it has become a systematic practice to stop inspections after 3:30 p.m., although the inspectors’ official working day lasts during daylight hours.

In addition, the Russian side, contrary to the JIC procedures, demands to check ship documents that have nothing to do with the subject of the inspection itself. In this way, Russia is delaying the duration of the ship’s inspection.

Thus, in February, only 149 inspections were conducted (173 in January) out of the planned 296. The trend continues in March, when negotiations are underway to extend the Grain Initiative.

In addition, such actions resulted in a stable queue of vessels (120 to 140 vessels), and Ukrainian ports are facing a shortage of new fleet for loading. Currently, 86 vessels are awaiting inspection in Turkish territorial waters.

As a reminder, since August 1, 2022, 814 vessels have exported 24.4 million tons of Ukrainian food to Asia, Europe and Africa from the ports of Greater Odesa. Due to the shortage of the new fleet and the queue in Turkey’s territorial waters, the export of agricultural products via the Grain Corridor does not exceed 3.4 million tons per month, despite the capacity to supply the world with 6 million tons of Ukrainian farmers’ products.