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Agreement on grain corridor to unblock about 25 mln tonnes of grain — source

The source stressed that "among the most important components of the agreement on the grain corridor were security guarantees for dry-cargo vessels so that they can leave the Ukrainian ports without obstacles"

ISTANBUL, July 22. /TASS/. An agreement on a grain corridor which will be signed in Istanbul will help deliver at least 25 mln tonnes of grain to global markets, a source in Istanbul told TASS on Friday.

"At the first stage, it is planned that thanks to the agreement which will be signed in Istanbul today, vessels with food products which ended up blocked in Ukrainian ports will be unblocked. There are approximately 80 of them. According to our calculations, this will help deliver about 25 mln tonnes of grain to the global markets in the coming weeks," the source said.

The source stressed that "among the most important components of the agreement on the grain corridor were security guarantees for dry-cargo vessels so that they can leave the Ukrainian ports without obstacles."

On July 18, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that agreements in principle had been reached on the creation of the so-called grain corridor for agricultural exports via the Black Sea and the possibility of holding a meeting of Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian and UN delegates this week where these agreements can be put into writing.

He also noted that during the meeting, the parties will discuss the creation of a coordinating center, the joint control of civilian ships’ departures and arrivals as well as ensuring the transportation routes of the agricultural products.

On July 15, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that the participants of the July 13 meeting on the "grain issue" in Turkey had generally supported Russia’s proposals and in the near future work on developing the final document on the Black Sea initiative would be completed. The issue of creating the grain corridor was discussed in Tehran by the Russian and Turkish presidents.