There are not enough alternative ways: Turkey insists on restoring the “grain corridor”

Alternative ways of exporting grain from Ukraine, in particular through river ports on the Danube, cannot replace the Black Sea Grain Initiative, so its work needs to be resumed urgently. Rushen Chetin, President of the Turkish Foreign Economic Relations Council (DEIK), said this in an interview with Bloomberg.

“After the closure of the grain corridor, there has been heavy traffic, as all ships are concentrated near Izmail, Reni and Kiliya – in ports connected to the mouths of the Danube River. From here, there are no large ships going to Africa or China. It is urgent to reach an agreement on the grain corridor again,” said the head of DEIK.

Commenting on the situation with Russia’s shelling of the Turkish cargo ship Sukra Okan, which was heading to the port of Izmail, Cetin reminded that there were no casualties as a result of the incident.

“On the other hand, they (the Russian side – ed.) made a statement that each of the incoming ships heading to Ukraine could carry military ammunition, as both the Ukrainian and Russian sides are in a state of war. This is the first time such a threat has arisen, and it may happen again. You have to be careful,” Chetin advised.

According to him, after the closure of the grain corridor, there is intense traffic at sea, with all routes overcrowded from Izmail, Reni and Kliya in the ports connected to the mouths of the Danube.

Answering a question about the prospects of transporting Ukrainian agricultural products via alternative routes other than the grain corridor, Chetin expressed confidence that this is impossible.

“It is impossible. Since these are river ports, large vessels cannot enter them, because they have a depth of up to certain meters. Hence, there are no large ships going to Africa or China. It is urgent to conclude a new agreement on the grain corridor,” he emphasized.

The DEIK president emphasized that the uncertainty with the export of Ukrainian agricultural products affects the economy, which “affects the Black Sea countries, it affects Europe.”

As reported, on the night of August 2, Russia attacked Ukrainian ports on the Danube, damaging and destroying an elevator, grain hangars, tanks of one of the cargo terminals, production, warehouse and administrative facilities. In addition, the three-story building of the Sea Port in Izmail and the office of the Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company were severely damaged. As a result, the number of vessel calls to Ukrainian ports on the Danube dropped by 2-5 times.

In response, Ukraine attacked the port of Novorossiysk with drones. In particular, surface drones hit the Russian landing ship Olenegorskiy Gornyak in the Novorossiysk Bay, as well as a large Russian oil tanker SIG in the Kerch Strait, which was transporting fuel for Russian troops.

After that, Ukraine announced a military threat to navigation in the waters of a number of Russian ports on the Black Sea.

On August 13, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Turkish dry cargo ship Sukru Okan, flying the Palauan flag and heading to the port of Izmail (Odesa region), did not respond to the Russian military’s request for a forced stop for inspection. After that, the Russian warship “opened warning fire from automatic small arms” and a group of Russian military boarded the dry cargo ship from a helicopter. After the forced inspection was completed, the vessel was released, but it changed course and is currently stopped in a Romanian port. The Turkish Defense Ministry has launched an investigation into the incident.

Tags: Turkey, Black Sea grain corridor