The first ship loaded with grain will leave Odessa on Monday morning. This was reported by the Turkish Ministry of Defense with reference to the Joint Coordination Center.
"It has been agreed that the Sierra Leone-flagged vessel Razoni, loaded with corn, will leave the port of Odessa at 08:30 local time (the same as Moscow time - TASS) and head for Lebanon," the text reads.
"Following the first vessel on the basis of the document "On the safe transportation of grain and food from Ukrainian ports" signed between Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and the UN on July 22, new vessels will go to sea within the corridors and rules defined by it," the ministry added.
Earlier the official representative of the Turkish President Ibrahim Kalin informed about the possibility of starting exports of Ukrainian grain on August 1.
It was also reported that the first caravan with Ukrainian grain will consist of 16 dry cargo ships. It can enter the Turkish territorial waters on August 2. The caravan will be escorted by drones. Additionally, the passage of vessels with grain will be monitored by representatives of Istanbul JCC using satellites. At the anchorage near the Bosporus its representatives will conduct inspection of cargo ships.
About the Istanbul agreements
A package of documents aimed at solving the problem of food and fertilizer supplies to the world markets was signed in Istanbul on July 22. A memorandum between Russia and the United Nations stipulates that the world organization will join efforts to remove anti-Russian restrictions impeding export of agricultural products and fertilizers. Another document outlines a mechanism for exporting grain from Ukrainian-controlled Black Sea ports. Agreements between Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations call for the creation of a quadripartite coordination center, whose representatives will inspect vessels carrying grain to prevent arms smuggling and exclude provocations.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: dmytrok/Creative Commons 2.0
Based on materials from TASS