Ukrainian officials say Russia is deliberately paralyzing inspections of ships that departed Ukraine as part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, kyiv independent reported. A total of 99 vessels have been awaiting inspection in the Bosphorus for more than a month, according to Ukraine's Ministry of Infrastructure. Seventy-two of them were heading west to be loaded into ports and 27 are already transporting Ukrainian agricultural products.

The ships were sent under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a UN-backed agreement signed in July by Ukraine, Russia and Turkey. The goal was to unlock Ukrainian grain exports that had been paralyzed since the Russian invasion in February. The Joint Coordination Center was established to coordinate the implementation of the agreement, and each has representatives within it. Turkey's Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoglu said more than 15 million tons of products have left Ukraine through the agreement since August.

Earlier, while seven ships left Ukraine's ports on October 23, Ukraine said its Black Sea facilities are operating well below capacity and accused Russia of preventing the full implementation of a grain agreement aimed at alleviating global food concerns, Reuters reported.

"Russia is deliberately blocking the full realization of the Grain Initiative," Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry said in a statement via the Telegram messaging app, according to Reuters. "As a result, these (Ukrainian) ports are operating in recent days with only 25% to 30% of their capacity."

Source: Agrolink