UN Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric said that the Russian side has notified the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul that it has restricted the registration of ships bound for Odessa’s port of Yuzhny. The decision was made due to unrecoverable ammonia exports from the Russian Federation.
“Russia has notified SKC of its decision to restrict ship registrations to the port of Yuzhny until ammonia is exported,” he said.
The UN expressed its concern at the slowdown in the implementation of the Black Sea grain agreement. Only 33 ships left Ukrainian ports in May. This is twice less than the previous month.
“We will continue to work to fully resume operations and continue the work of the initiative. we expect this [стороны] “They will commit to accepting ships to all three ports without preconditions, increasing the number of successful inspections per day, predictable registration, export fertilizers including ammonia, and reopening the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline.”
The Russian side has not yet commented on the UN statement.
Reuters previously reported, citing sources, that the UN has invited Kiev, Moscow and Ankara to begin preparatory work for the transit of Russian ammonia through Ukraine. The UN also wants to include more Ukrainian ports in the grain deal and expand its cargo list.
At the end of May, Reuters, citing Yuriy Vaskov, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Renewal, reported that Kiev would accept the passage of Russian ammonia through its territory if the UN and Moscow guarantees safe grain exports via the Black Sea.
“If this is a key issue, then they should openly say that if the ammonia pipeline becomes operational again, Ukraine will have such opportunities (to export grain. – socialbites.ca) and then our top political leadership will decide whether it is in our region. interests or not, ”said Vaskov.
Terms of a transaction
Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and UN representatives signed a grain agreement on July 22, 2022. The agreement provides for the export of grain, food and fertilizer across the Black Sea from Ukrainian territory. Currently, exports are allowed from three ports, including Odessa. Ship traffic is coordinated by a center in Istanbul.
The agreement was extended several times, the last time Moscow did not immediately accept the extension, however, the agreement was extended until 17 July without any changes. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the next two months of the Black Sea initiative will be decisive for its future fate. The Russian side insists on reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT, unblocking transport logistics and insurance, supplying spare parts and freezing the assets of Russian companies, in addition to re-wiring the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline.
And here’s the ammonia pipeline
Restarting the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline remains a stumbling block in the grain deal negotiations. The ammonia pass was suspended on February 24, 2022, the day the military operation of the RF Armed Forces began. Togliattiazot announced the development of railway routes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously announced that he would approve the ammonia supply from the Russian Federation to the port of Odessa only during the prisoner exchange according to the formula “for all of us”. The Kremlin dismissed the idea, saying that ammonia and humans “are not the same thing.”
The first stage of the ammonia pipeline was commissioned in October 1979. It is now controlled by the Russian “Transammiak” and the Ukrainian “Ukrhimtransammiak”.