Russian ship with fertilizer to leave for Africa on Monday: UN

GENEVA

A Russian ship with fertilizer blocked in a European port will leave for Africa on Nov. 21, the head of the UN trade office said on Friday.

Rebeca Grynspan spoke to journalists at a news conference following the agreement to extend the landmark Black Sea grain deal for another 120 days, announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday.

“The first shipping will leave a Netherlands port going to Malawi, and the vessel is loading right now,” Grynspan said when asked about Russian fertilizer blocked in European ports following the start of Moscow’s war on Kyiv.

“The date established for the vessel to go is the 21st of November to Malawi through Mozambique,” Grynspan said, adding that there are around 300,000 tons of fertilizer in different European ports.

“This is very important because Malawi is one of the countries lighting up in red with respect to fertilizer use,” she added.

Grynspan said the UN hopes that the next destination for Russian goods will be West Africa, “which has been very affected by the affordability crisis of fertilizers.”

On July 22, Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which had been paused in February due to Russia’s war on Ukraine. Except for a brief hiatus, it has enabled food shipments to the world ever since.

Erdogan said on Thursday: “As a result of four-way talks hosted by Türkiye, the Black Sea Grain Corridor Agreement was extended for 120 days as of Nov. 19, 2022, in line with the decision taken between Türkiye, the United Nations, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine.”

The Turkish president said that nearly 500 ships carried over 11 million tons of grain and foodstuff in the past four months, adding this shows how important this agreement is for the world food supply and security. The deal had been due to expire this Saturday.