ISTANBUL, June 26. /TASS/. More than 32 mln tons of agricultural products have been supplied from Ukrainian ports in the almost one year since the grain deal was implemented, with the share of African countries receiving grain rising to 12%, Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said.
"The volume of agricultural products delivered through the grain corridor from August 1, 2022 to June 20, 2023 totaled 32,580,685 tons, of which almost 4 mln tons were supplied to the African continent," he was quoted as saying by Turkey’s TRT TV channel on Monday. "The share of African countries where grain is delivered has risen to 12% as of today compared to 6% six months ago. Thus, grain supplies to Africa have doubled," Uraloglu said.
China received the bulk of agricultural products, almost 7.7 mln tons, followed by Spain with 5.9 mln tons, and Turkey with 3.6 mln tons of grain.
On July 22, 2022, a package of documents on the supply of food and fertilizers to the international market was signed in Istanbul. Initially, the agreements were concluded for 120 days, in November of last year they were extended for the same period. On March 18, 2023, Russia announced a 60-day extension of the deal, warning that this would be enough time to evaluate the implementation of the memorandum signed with the UN. On May 18, the grain deal was extended for another two months until July 17.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier that the extension of the grain deal was out of the question unless the Russian package of the Istanbul agreements was enforced, adding that the deal was still being implemented only regarding the supply of Ukrainian grain.