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Ship leaves Odessa port with 26,000 tonnes of corn on board — Ukrainian official

The Razoni ship, flying the flag of Sierra Leone, is heading to the port of Tripoli in Lebanon

KIEV, August 1. /TASS/. The first ship left the port of Odessa with 26,000 tonnes of corn on board, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Alexander Kurbakov said on Monday.

"The Razoni ship, flying the flag of Sierra Leone, is heading to the port of Tripoli in Lebanon. It will travel along a corridor whose safety was confirmed by our guarantor partners, the United Nations and Turkey. There are 26,000 tonnes of Ukrainian corn on board," he wrote on Facebook (an Internet platform banned in Russia since it is owned by Meta corporation deemed extremist by the Russian authorities).

The Turkish Defense Ministry said earlier that the ship was expected to arrive in Istanbul on August 2.

A package of documents aimed at resolving the issue of food and fertilizer supplies to global markets was signed in Istanbul on July 22. Under a Russia-UN memorandum, the United Nations will engage in efforts to lift anti-Russian restrictions preventing the export of agricultural products and fertilizers. Another document creates a mechanism to export grain from Ukraine-controlled Black Sea ports. The deal inked between Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN provides for the establishment of a four-party coordination center whose representatives will inspect grain ships in order to prevent arms smuggling and false flag operations.