The ship Sormovskiy 121 from the port of Chornomorsk and the bulk carrier Star Laura from the port of Pivdenny (both in the Odessa region) formed the fifth caravan with Ukrainian agricultural products, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine reported on Facebook on Friday.
According to his release, the total tonnage of the caravan is over 63,000 tons.
“Star Laura became the first Panamax-class ship to leave the port of Pivdenny since the beginning of the “grain initiative”, and the third in the general list of giant ships that sailed along the “grain corridor,” the ministry noted.
The Ministry of Infrastructure also indicated that “Chernomorsk” and “Pivdenny” will take two more ships for loading – Brave Commander and Petrel S, which will be loaded with more than 40 thousand tons of grain.
As reported, on July 22, 2022, in Istanbul, representatives of Ukraine, Turkey and UN Secretary-General António Guterres signed the Initiative for the safe transportation of grain and food from the Ukrainian ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Pivdenny.
As part of the implementation of the agreements, 12 ships with agricultural products have already left Ukrainian ports for seven countries of the world with 370,000 tons of agricultural products, while two ships entered Ukrainian ports.
Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Sunday that the first ship with grain on board could leave the Black Sea ports of Ukraine on Monday.
“Negotiations are ongoing. There is a possibility that the first ship will set off tomorrow morning,” Turkish TV channel TRT Haber quotes him as saying.
In Istanbul on July 22, with the participation of the UN, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, two documents were signed on the creation of a corridor for the export of grain from three Black Sea ports – Chernomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhny.
The Ukrainian Sea Ports Administration (USPA) reports on the ongoing preparation of the ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny for the resumption of work in connection with the signing on July 22 in Istanbul of the Initiative for the export of grain and related food products by sea.
“Considering the above, we inform you that the event and the exit of ships to the indicated seaports will be carried out by forming a caravan, which will be accompanied by a leading ship,” the USPA posted on Facebook on Saturday.
In order to draw up plans for the formation of caravans, USPA asks to submit applications for the inclusion of ships by e-mail.
During the signing of the Initiative and immediately after it, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said that ship traffic could resume in the coming days.
As part of EU sanctions, the Bulgarian authorities imposed a ban on entry into their ports for ships from Russia, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Sunday.
“All ships flying the Russian flag, as well as ships that changed the Russian flag or registration to any other state after February 24, are denied access to the sea and river ports of Bulgaria,” AP quotes excerpts from a statement by the Bulgarian Maritime Administration.
AP specifies that the Bulgarian authorities will make an exception for ships in distress or in need of humanitarian assistance, as well as ships carrying energy, food and medicine to the EU.
On the eve it became known about a similar order of the Italian authorities. At the same time, Russian cargo ships, which are currently in Italy, were ordered by the authorities to go to sea as soon as they complete their current operations.
Earlier in April, the EU introduced another package of sanctions against the Russian Federation, ordering, in particular, to close ports for ships from Russia. At the same time, exceptions are provided for the transportation of a number of goods, for example, energy carriers, agricultural products.
It is necessary to invest up to UAH 17 billion in the ports of Ukraine until 2027, Oleksandr Holodnytsky, the acting head of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA), has said.
“Some UAH 17 billion is an assessment of the portfolio until 2027. It foresees development plans, as well as what business wants and sees the USPA as a necessary component for maintenance and development,” he said at the Infrastructure of the South of Ukraine forum.
Holodnytsky, in particular, clarified that the money is needed for the construction of the utility network – UAH 400 million, road and railway tracks, as well as overpasses – UAH 1.9 billion, berths – UAH 11.6 billion, dredging – UAH 2.5 billion, as well as the fleet – UAH 600 million.
About 60% of attempts to smuggle cigarettes is recorded through ports, in general, tobacco products are most popular among other smuggled goods, First Deputy Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Volodymyr Nikiforenko has said.
“More than 60% of smuggling is detected in ports. There are significant consignments of seized cigarettes. For example, one of the recent large consignments detained is estimated at about UAH 80 million,” he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.
According to Nikiforenko, in general, this year the State Border Guard Service suppressed attempts of illegal movement of tobacco products across the border about 750 times, seized 12 million packages of cigarettes.
“During this year, our colleagues and partners, and we interact with law enforcement agencies of countries adjacent to Ukraine, note a 50-67% fall in the volume of smuggling from Ukraine to Europe,” he said.
The first deputy head of the State Border Guard Service added that drones and small aircraft are often used to supply cigarette contraband.
“There are indicative episodes when we detained a plane that launched from Cherkasy region and was moving to the Romanian border. In just one day, it violated the airspace four times. The plane was detained, criminal proceedings are underway,” Nikiforenko said.
With regard to the fight against smuggling of cigarettes, Nikiforenko supported the legislative initiative to return criminal responsibility for smuggling an excisable group of goods.
“We are losing in the influence on the development of the criminal situation in the border zone to our neighbors, where the law enforcement influence on these processes is tougher. This encourages wider population to this illegal activity. Where there is administrative responsibility, our Romanian neighbors can bring to criminal responsibility with serious consequences: for 10 boxes of cigarettes you can get five years in prison. Romanians are less involved in this [smuggling], while in Ukraine many settlements “specialize” in this for years,” Nikiforenko said, adding that only about 2% of cigarettes with a Ukrainian excise label are seized on the border, while the rest is counterfeit and smuggling from other countries.
