Over the week, 18 vessels exported 664,000 tonnes of food from the ports of Greater Odesa. This is one third less than the previous week’s exports.

In particular, 60,000 tonnes of wheat were shipped to Kenya, 56,000 tonnes – to Bangladesh, and 60,000 tonnes of Ukrainian vegetable oil – to India.

The rate of vessels leaving ports remains critically low – at 2.5 vessels per day. This is the figure that was observed at the beginning of the Grain Initiative, when export volumes were insignificant. At the same time, the number of vessels that are inspected in the Bosporus and are allowed to move to Ukrainian ports for loading also does not exceed 3 vessels per day.

In the Bosporus, the russian side in the JCC continues to obstruct implementation of the initiative and artificially increases the queue of ships.

As of today, 117 vessels are awaiting inspection in Turkish territorial waters (92 are heading west to ports for loading, and 25 are already carrying agricultural products). Last week, only 20 inspections took place out of the minimum required 84.

Registration of ships for participation in the initiative is also hampered: out of more than 80 ships that have applied, the russians register an average of 2-3 vessels daily without explanation.

These factors are slowing down implementation of the Grain Initiative: we are seeing a decline in exports by almost 30% compared to the previous month, which means that the world is not receiving the right amount of agricultural produce. The vast majority of countries receive it with huge delays due to ship idling in the Bosporus. We expect a reaction from our partners in the Grain Deal – Turkey and the UN.

Currently, 21 vessels are being processed in the ports of Greater Odesa. They are being loaded with almost 1 million tonnes of Ukrainian agricultural products. Only 3 vessels are moving along the grain corridor for loading.

Since August 1, 687 vessels have left the ports of Greater Odesa, exporting 18.9 million tonnes of Ukrainian food to Asia, Europe, and Africa. With a stable functioning of the grain corridor, this figure would have made up more than 28 million tonnes.