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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced this Saturday an agreement to extend the pact that allows the export of Ukrainian agricultural products through the Black Sea ports, a few hours after it expired.
“The grain corridor agreement ended as of today. As a result of negotiations with both parties, we have extended the time. The continuation and stability of the agreement is of vital importance,” Erdogan explained, according to the Turkish newspaper ‘Hürriyet ‘.
The president did not give details about the duration of the extension but, shortly after and on his Twitter account, the Minister for Communities, Territorial Development and Infrastructure of Ukraine, Oleksandr Kubrakov, announced that the agreement will be extended for another 120 days, as and as requested by the Ukrainian authorities, compared to the 60 days proposed by Russia.
Erdogan made the announcement at a public event in Çanakkale, in western Turkey, in which he thanked Ukraine, Russia and the UN for their involvement.
The agreement has facilitated since July and until now the export of 24 million tons of cereals in more than 1,600 trips by merchant ships. 55 percent of this food has gone to developing countries.
