ANKARA: Russia's ambassador to Turkey said on Friday that Moscow sends its representatives to more ship inspections in Istanbul per day than mandated under the Black Sea grain deal, rejecting a Ukrainian accusation that Russia is slowing down the process.
Ukraine's grain exports have been moving slowly since a UN-brokered deal was extended last week to help alleviate global hunger, according to a report on Thursday.
Vasyl Bodnar, Ukraine's ambassador to Turkey, blamed the slowdown on uncertainty over renewing the deal and Russia's refusal to speed up inspections and increase the number of teams from three currently.
Russia complies with its obligations under the grain export deal, which requires parties to form three inspection teams, according to Aleksey Erkhov, Russia's ambassador.
He said that Russia sends its representatives daily to one or two additional inspection teams because of the increased number of vessels and the number and composition of the Russian delegation to the JCC.
Erkhov said in an emailed response to Reuters' questions that this is a gesture of goodwill and by reducing the time it takes for inspectors to rest in accordance with labor law.
Three inspection teams have operated in the last two weeks, according to Ismini Palla, UN spokesperson for the Black Sea Grain Initiative in Istanbul.
The Joint Coordination Centre JCC in Istanbul said on Thursday that the delegations were discussing ways to increase the number of successful inspections, adding that it planned to deploy four teams for inspections on Friday.
Since the agreement was extended beyond the Nov. 19, no more than five ships a day left Ukraine, UN data shows, down from previous weeks and months when up to 10 were left.
On two of the last four days, only one ship left Ukraine's ports, while two left on Friday.
According to Bodnar's statement that Russian teams were slowing down the checks probably with intent Erkhov said the duration of inspections is determined by objective factors.
The duration can be reduced by formalizing the approach to this process. He said that such an approach, actively promoted by the Ukrainian delegation, is unacceptable for the Russian side.
The deal between Moscow and Kyiv, which was also brokered by Ankara, unblocked exports that were stalled in Ukraine's Black Sea ports after Russia's invasion. It began in July and was extended through March, easing global food prices.
Ukraine and Russia are the major grain exporters in the world. They agreed that teams would check the vessels to make sure no barred people or goods are arriving or departing from Ukrainian ports.
The UN data shows that there were between zero to six inspections per day in the seven days to Nov 23, and eight each on Thursday and Friday. It was up to 11 daily inspections in the previous week and five to eight daily inspections in the previous week. Palla said vessel flows were affected by past uncertainty over extending the deal, poor weather conditions and a rotation of new staff and inspectors at the JCC.