Grain Deal Used to Cover Up Ukraine Exports to Well-Fed Countries, Says Moscow

The grain deal was touted as aimed at reducing threats to food security, but in fact it turned out to be a cover for the commercial export of Ukrainian grain to satiated countries, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said at the 11th International Meeting of High Representatives in Charge of Security Issues on Friday.

The deputy minister said that the implementation of the so-called grain deal, also called the Black Sea Grain Initiative, is a vivid example of speculation by Europeans and Americans on the needs of the poorest countries in their interests.

He noted that the well-known package, proposed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and signed in Istanbul on July 22, consists of two interrelated agreements – the Black Sea Initiative on the export of Ukrainian food and Russian ammonia and the Russia-UN Memorandum on the normalization of agricultural exports.

"On paper, this package was allegedly aimed at reducing threats to food security and providing assistance to needy countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In fact, it turned out to be a screen for the commercial export of Ukrainian grain to well-fed countries, with more super-profits for the earlier mentioned Western corporations that have bought all the Ukrainian arable land," Vershinin said.

Examples of such Western companies are the US’ Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge and Cargill, as well as Louis Dreyfus of the Netherlands.

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According to the Russian deputy minister, since August 1, 2022, from the ports of Odessa, Yuzhny, and Chernomorsk, a total of more than 30.3 million tons of grain was exported.

"The lion’s share of the goods (80 percent) went to high-income and above-middle-income countries, including in the EU (about 40 percent). The poorest states (Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Sudan and Somalia) accounted for only 722,000 tonnes or 2.5 percent of the total," he noted.

This, however, does not prevent Westerners, supported by the UN, from hypocritically repeating the theses about global food security, threats of famine and non-proliferation of their sanctions on food and fertilizers, Vershinin said.

"The reality is this: the text of the Black Sea Initiative does not include a word about these noble goals, while the Russia-UN Memorandum contains several detailed passages on this score. This, however, does not stop the United States, the EU and the United Kingdom from introducing new sanctions against Russian agricultural exports and, in general, methodically sabotaging the implementation of the second part of the package deal – the Russia-UN Memorandum," Vershinin added.

Declared Purpose

According to the deputy minister, the conclusion is obvious: the package proposed by UN Secretary-General Guterres that was signed in Istanbul does not work.

"Not only the Russia-UN Memorandum but also the provision on Russian ammonia supplies stipulated in both agreements, including from the port of Yuzhny under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, are being disregarded. The proclaimed humanitarian mission of the initiative itself has been fully and irreversibly discredited," Vershinin stressed.

He noted that under these conditions, as an emergency measure and in response to the appeals of the Turkish leadership, Russia agreed to extend the grain deal until July 17.

"We pointed out again that the extension, let alone expansion, of the initiative was out of the question until substantial progress was made in resolving the five systemic problems hindering Russian agricultural exports, namely, [the Russian Agricultural Bank] Rosselkhozbank’s reconnection to SWIFT; the resumption of farm machinery, spare parts and maintenance equipment deliveries; the lifting of insurance and re-insurance restrictions and the port access ban; the relaunching of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline; and the unblocking of Russian companies’ foreign assets and accounts," he said.