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UN resumes buying Ukrainian grain for Ethiopia, Yemen

A package of agreements aiming to help with food and fertilizer supplies to global markets was signed on July 22 in Istanbul

UNITED NATIONS, August 28. /TASS/. The UN World Food Program has resumed purchasing Ukrainian wheat for its humanitarian operations in famine-stricken regions of the world, including Ethiopia and Yemen, United Nations Coordinator for the Black Sea Grain Initiative Amir Mahmoud Abdullah said on Saturday, according to a UN statement.

"While this agreement covers commercial operations for the resumption of exports, the Initiative has also enabled the World Food Programme to restart purchasing wheat from Ukraine for its humanitarian operations in hunger-struck countries, like Ethiopia and Yemen," he was quoted as saying in the statement.

A package of agreements aiming to help with food and fertilizer supplies to global markets was signed on July 22 in Istanbul. Under a Russia-UN memorandum, the UN undertakes to work toward lifting anti-Russian restrictions that hamper exports of agricultural products and fertilizers. Another deal sets forth a mechanism for exporting grain from Ukraine-controlled Black Sea ports. An agreement between Russia, Turkey and the United Nations provides for an establishment of a four-way coordination center to inspect ships with grain to prevent weapons smuggling and provocations. The UN seeks to achieve exports of 2 mln-5 mln of food a month.

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