On July 17, almost a year after it was signed in Istanbul, Russia decided not to renew the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) which allows Ukraine to export agricultural products to world markets. As the UN Secretary General has noted, this initiative was “a ray of hope in a world that desperately needs it.”
Before Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, a major food supplier, One fifth of the world’s barley came from the Ukraine, as well as one sixth of the corn and one eighth of the wheat. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which attacked grain fields and silos and blockaded Ukrainian ports, world food prices hit record highs and jeopardized food supplies for many importing countries. The aim of the BSGI was to restore a vital route for Ukraine’s agricultural exports and lower world food prices.
Despite many difficulties, the initiative achieved its goal. Since August 2022, the export of almost 33 million tons of grain and food from Ukraine to 45 countries has been essential to reduce world food prices to around 25% of the record level reached shortly after the Russian attack. As public trade data shows, more than half of these cereals, including two thirds of wheat, have been exported to developing countries.
In addition, the BSGI guaranteed the supply of grain to the World Food Program (WFP). In 2023, Ukraine provided 80 percent of the wheat purchased by the program to support humanitarian operations in countries most affected by food insecurity, including Afghanistan, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Without the Black Sea route, WFP will have to buy its cereals elsewhere, at higher prices and with longer delays, while The world is facing an unprecedented food crisis.
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Russia made this decision despite renewed proposals from the UN Secretary General to work to manage the problem. In order to blame others, Russia claims that its own agricultural exports were not sufficiently favored. This claim is not supported by public world trade data, which shows that Russia’s agricultural exports are flourishing. Russia has also benefited significantly from the UN Memorandum of Understanding on Fertilizer Exports, which was negotiated in parallel with BSGI. The United Nations has worked tirelessly to clarify regulatory frameworks and discuss with the private sector to find specific solutions in the banking and insurance sectors. These efforts have been carried out in close cooperation with the EU and its partners.
Russia has decided to withdraw from the BSGI, using food as a weapon and endangering the world’s food supply
Contrary to the lies spread by Russia, the EU has ensured that its sanctions have no impact on global food security. There are no sanctions against the Russian export of food and fertilizer to third countries and the EU has provided extensive guidance to economic operators, clarifying that these transfers to third countries are permitted. We also work with the United Nations to authorize the corresponding payments.
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Despite these well-known and verifiable facts, Russia has decided to withdraw from the BSGI, using food as a weapon and endangering the world’s food supply. Within hours of withdrawing from the initiative, Russia also began destroying Ukraine’s grain storage facilities and port infrastructure through daily targeted attacks, not only in the Black Sea, but also on the Danube.
Immediately, wholesale prices of wheat and corn experienced their largest increase since the start of Russia’s war of aggression. This increased volatility in food prices is expected to persist as Russia deliberately puts global food supplies under pressure, worsening the global cost-of-living crisis and affecting the food insecure in developing countries. dependent on imports. This situation is unacceptable and must be strongly condemned.
As the world grapples with food supply disruptions and rising prices, Russia is now reaching out to vulnerable countries, particularly in Africa, with limited bilateral offers of grain shipments, claiming to solve a problem that they themselves have created. This is a cynical policy that deliberately uses food as a weapon.
The world has a common interest in managing food safety responsibly
In response to Russia’s irresponsible actions, the EU is acting on three main axes. First, we will continue to support the unremitting efforts of the United Nations and Turkey to resume BSGI. Second, we continue to strengthen our “solidarity corridors”, alternative routes that allow Ukrainian agricultural exports to reach world markets through the EU.
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These routes have allowed the export of more than 41 million tons of Ukrainian agricultural products so far, and we are increasing their capacity as much as possible to mitigate the consequences of the end of the BDGI decided by Russia.
In third place, we have increased our financial support to countries and people most in need, unlocking 18,000 million euros to guarantee their food security until 2024.
We call on the international community and all countries to increase their support for global food security. We call on all our partners to call on Russia to resume negotiations, as the African Union has already done., and to refrain from attacking Ukraine’s agricultural infrastructure. If we speak with a clear and united voice, we can get Russia to resume its participation in BSGI. The world has a common interest in managing food safety responsibly. We owe it to those who need it most.
Josep Borrell Fontelles
High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Vice President of the European Commission
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