Turkey is expecting the first ship with Ukrainian grain in Istanbul this night. This statement was made by the coordinator of the Joint Coordination Center, Turkish Rear Admiral Ozcan Altunbulak, Hürriyet reports.
"It is expected that the vessel called Razoni, which we had been waiting earlier, will become at a certain anchorage in Istanbul at midnight due to sea conditions. After the necessary procedures, the Razoni vessel will be inspected with a delegation consisting of representatives from Turkey, the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the UN and based on the results of the inspection, the vessel will continue its journey," Altunbulak said.
According to him, preparations and planning are now underway for ships that will be able to take grain and similar food products out of three ports in Ukraine.
Ukraine, the United Nations, Turkey and Russia signed an agreement on July 22 (Ukraine and Russia separately) aimed at ensuring the safe passage of ships that enter and leave the three Ukrainian Black Sea ports (Odesa, Chernomorsk, Yuzhny) that were blocked by Russia after Moscow invaded on Feb. 24. Ukraine and Russia are major grain exporters, and the port blockade has delayed tens of millions of tons of grain in the country.
On August 1, the first ship carrying Ukrainian grain left the port of Odesa. It is the Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni. It is carrying corn to Lebanon.
