UN Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres (left) and Turkish president Recep Tayyip ErdoÄźan (right), at the signing ceremony of the grain deal in Istanbul. Photo: AFP/Getty Images.
In an article published on July 20, Mikhail Ledenev, Russia’s ambassador to Bolivia, painted a rather bleak picture of the agreements signed in July 2022 in Istanbul: the Black Sea Grain Initiative, on Russian agricultural exports and fertilizers, and the Russia-UN Memorandum, on Ukrainian grain exports.
According to the author, the stated intention was to help needy nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America; however, the results show that only a small percentage of Ukrainian grain went to these regions.
“After one year, the results are as follows,” wrote Ledenev. “Less than 3% went to countries such as Ethiopia, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, and others most in need. The overwhelming majority [of the grains went] to states with high and upper middle income levels, including European Union (EU) countries.”
In addition, it was noted that Ukraine destroyed the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline, violating the agreement and taking advantage of the safe sea corridor offered by Russia to attack facilities in Crimea, including a terrorist act that cost the life of a family of tourists and caused considerable damage to the Crimean bridge.
The article also highlights the business nature of the deal, which was taken advantage of by US and European companies which now own more than 17 million hectares of Ukrainian farmland. This was made possible after the Ukrainian government lifted the moratorium on the purchase of this land by foreigners. The corporations became rich from both the sale of Ukrainian grain and its processing, generating protests from farmers in other EU countries (such as the Netherlands and Germany) due to unfair competition.
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The article also noted that none of the guarantees offered to Russia were fulfilled, including banking conditions, transport insurance, and logistics, among other aspects intended to facilitate Russian agricultural exports. The EU issued five additional packages of anti-Russian “sanctions” since July 2022 and countries such as the Baltics and the Netherlands hindered free supplies of Russian grain to developing countries.
Ledenev’s analysis concludes that what started as a humanitarian action turned into a commercial operation that “has little to do with helping those in need.” The article also criticizes Ukraine’s use of the safe corridor for military purposes, causing destruction and deaths.
“On July 17, fed up with receiving false promises, we cut off participation in this project, advising that we will continue humanitarian food supplies,” wrote Ledenev. “We are waiting for the real and not fictitious fulfillment of the requirements of the agreements signed in Istanbul.”
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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