The Grain Deal will be extended. Previously, Moscow repeatedly threatened to stop the delivery of food over the Black Sea.
This was reported by Bloomberg, which cites Turkish officials.
An announcement was expected on May 17, said the officials, who declined to be named as the information was private.
Ukraine’s Deputy Infrastructure Minister Yuriy Vaskov hasn’t confirmed yet that the agreement was signed, noting in a text message that it was too early to comment.
Grain prices surged initially but later declined as traders waited for the results of the agreement. Wheat futures in Chicago were around 0.7% lower by 12:12 a.m. in London.
Updated at 5:14 p.m.: Erdoğan confirmed that the Grain Deal was extended
On the evening of May 17, Turkish President Erdoğan confirmed that the deal had been extended for two months, as he announced on Twitter.
"With the efforts of our country, the support of our Russian friends, and the contributions of our Ukrainian friends, it was decided to extend the Black Sea Grain Corridor Agreement for another two months," Erdogan tweeted.
Moreover, according to him, Mykolaiv was included in the Grain Corridor.
The deal has made it possible to safely ship around 30 million tons of grain since it was signed in July 2022. This helped lower global food prices, which had spiraled to a record in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion. China and Spain rank among the top destinations for Ukrainian grains.
Grain shipments through the Black Sea have been hamstrung by repeated disruptions in the joint inspections of vessels. The pace of ship examinations going forward will be crucial for Ukraine’s ability to offload its next harvests, with wheat collected from July.
Restrictions on other export routes via the European Union have added to the hurdles for local farmers. Several eastern EU countries have sought to limit crop trade with Ukraine, claiming the flows are harming their own growers.
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