ANKARA, June 5. /TASS/. Inspections of ships by representatives of the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul under the grain deal were resumed on June 4.
Ismini Palla, Chief of the media and communications unit at the Office of the UN Coordinator for the Black Sea Grain initiative, told TASS about this on Monday.
"The Joint Coordination Center resumed ship inspections yesterday (June 4 - TASS) afternoon," she said.
Earlier on Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Vershinin told reporters about the resumption of ship inspections as part of the grain deal.
Since June 1, the JCC has not carried out ship inspections under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was signed on July 22, 2022 by representatives of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN, involves the export of Ukrainian grain, food and fertilizer across the Black Sea from three ports, including Odessa. The Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul is responsible for coordinating the movement of ships. Russian President Vladimir Putin previously noted that the West exports most of the Ukrainian grain to its own states, and not to needy countries in Africa.
The grain initiative is an integral part of the package agreement. The second part is the Russia-UN memorandum. A three year deal, it provides for the unblocking of Russian exports of food and fertilizers, the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank to the SWIFT system, the resumption of supplies of agricultural machinery, spare parts and services, restoration of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline and a number of other measures. As Moscow noted, this part of the package agreement has not yet been implemented. Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the grain deal was extended until July 17 inclusive, without any changes, and if all the issues on the deal are not resolved within two months, the agreement will be terminated after July 17.