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Turkish state bank will not participate in grain deal without US and UN approval — Reuters

According to the official, if relevant agreements are reached, the US and the UN will have to approve each transaction

ANKARA, May 4. /TASS/. The Turkish state-owned Ziraat Bank will not be involved in processing payments for grain exports from Russia without written approval from the United States and the United Nations, Reuters reported on Thursday citing a high-ranking Turkish official.

"Ziraat Bank would be an intermediary to transaction with the written approval and commissioning of the United States and the United Nations, like in the example of JP Morgan. This will not be realized if there is no written approval," the official said as quoted by Reuters. The official declined to comment on whether Ziraat could be involved in payments for Russian fertilizer exports.

According to the official, if relevant agreements are reached, the US and the UN will have to approve each transaction. The official stressed that negotiations on the supply of Russian grain under the grain deal are ongoing.

On July 22, 2022, a package of agreements on food and fertilizer exports to the global market was inked in Istanbul for a period of 120 days, and then was extended for the same period in November. On March 18, 2023, Russia announced that the deal would be extended for 60 more days, saying this would be enough time to assess the efficacy of the memorandum signed with the UN.

The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that any additional extensions of the deal would hinge on whether Rosselkhozbank is reconnected to SWIFT; the exports of agricultural equipment, spare parts and maintenance services resume; the insurance and reinsurance restrictions as well as the ban on calls to ports are lifted; the Tolyatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline is restarted; and foreign assets and accounts of Russian companies related to production and transportation of food and fertilizers are unblocked.

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