UN presses Kyiv and Moscow to agree fertiliser deal in Black Sea

“The absence from the market of ammonia formerly shipped through Ukraine has caused substantial hardship in countries dependent on that product,” Trammo CEO Ed Weiner said.

“We believe that resumption of shipments will help to stabilise fertiliser prices worldwide and to avoid a global food crisis.”

Uralchem did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The pipeline is designed to pump up to 2.5 million tonnes of ammonia per year.

“The UN is pursuing all efforts to allow for a positive outcome on Russian ammonia exports to international markets,” said senior UN trade official Rebeca Grynspan, who leads the facilitation of Russian food and fertiliser exports.

She declined to comment on the specifics of the deal, nor if an agreement was close. Ms Grynspan said food and fertiliser was being exported from Russian ports.

Ukraine and Russia are major global grain and fertiliser exporters. The UN said the agreement on Russian and Ukrainian exports was needed to tackle a global food crisis that it said had been worsened by Russia’s war in Ukraine, pushing some 47 million people into “acute hunger”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin criticised the July deal last week, saying Ukraine was exporting food and fertiliser to the European Union and Turkey rather than to poorer countries. The pact allowing Ukraine’s exports is up for renewal in November.

An ammonia deal would give Russia more of a reason to stick to the Ukrainian Black Sea export deal. Russia and Ukraine declined to comment immediately on the discussions.

“By having a key Russian company export through the same Black Sea corridors that the Ukrainian grain is going through stabilises the arrangement and could lead to a longer-term extension of the agreement,” a Western diplomat said.

The UN has said that 30 per cent of the grain and other foodstuffs that had so far left Ukraine under the July pact had gone to low- and lower-middle-income countries.