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June 15 () –
The spokesman for the UN Secretary General, Stéphane Dujarric, has assured that developing countries that depend “immensely” on food imports have benefited from the agreement to export grain from Ukraine.
“We are in constant contact not only with the parties to the agreement, but also with all those who have benefited from it. And I think that developing countries, which are immensely dependent on food imports, have benefited because of the drop in the global prices that we saw”, Dujarric declared at a press conference.
Dujarric has added that “any help that is provided to those most in need is something positive”, in reference to the “free cereals” offered by Russia.
The Russian and Ukrainian authorities reached an agreement in mid-July last year — mediated by Turkey and the UN — for the export of grain and other agricultural products through Ukrainian ports and across the Black Sea.
After several extensions, Moscow has warned that the pact will not be extended beyond July 17 if some failures in the agreement have not been corrected by that date, which they consider to benefit Ukraine more since Russian products are not being transported.
In addition, according to data from the Russian authorities, only three percent of the grain shipments that have sailed from Ukrainian ports since July 2022 have finally ended up in those “poorest” countries.
