Iran Press/ America: The United Nations on Thursday voiced concern about the slowdown of grain shipments under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allows the export of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products from Black Sea ports.
"We are concerned about the continuous slowdown of the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative observed particularly in the months of April and May," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
In May, 33 vessels departed Ukrainian ports, half of the number compared to April. Only three of those departed from the port of Pivdennyi in Yuzhny, Odesa province, one of the three Ukrainian ports covered in the initiative. Exports in May stood at 1.3 million metric tons of grains and other foodstuff, less than half of the previous month, he said.
Russia has informed of its decision to limit registrations to the port of Pivdennyi as long as Russian ammonia is not exported, said Dujarric.
Since May 24, the number of inspection teams at the Joint Coordination Centre has been reduced from three to two, and the limited registrations and reduced inspection teams contributed to the drop in the average daily inspection rate to three, said the spokesman. 219
