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The European Commission does not have money to subsidize Ukrainian grain exports, while some members of the EU oppose the idea anyway, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Last year, Brussels removed tariffs and quotas on Ukrainian products to support the country in its fight against Russia. In July 2022, Russia agreed to offer safety guarantees to commercial ships carrying Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea. The deal collapsed earlier this month, as Moscow did not get promised relief on sanctions on its own food and fertilizer trade.

Kiev is looking for ways to compensate for the loss of Black Sea route and wants the EU to pay for it. In a letter to EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis last week, the Ukrainian government requested financial aid to cover some of the transport costs via so-called ‘Solidarity Lanes’, which ship Ukrainian products via the EU, Reuters said.

The requested compensation was estimated at between $30 and $40 per ton and was intended to cover the difference between the cheaper Black Sea route and the alternatives. Last year, roughly 40% of Kiev’s grain exports went through the now-defunct maritime scheme. The volume of goods shipped via Solidarity Lanes since May 2022, when they were established, stands at over 45 million tons.

“We have not found a solution yet to support the grain transport. People have been scratching their heads since last year,” a source told the news agency about the Commission’s problems.

Another source said additional funds could be allocated after the mid-term budget review, which would likely take months. However, some EU member states oppose the proposal in principle, citing the dispute over the current partial ban on exports of Ukrainian grain to the bloc.

Five Eastern European member states saw mass protests by farmers after cheap Ukrainian food produce flooded their markets and drove down prices. In May, they pressured the Commission into approving temporary prohibitions, which they had imposed at national level, and paying compensation to affected agriculture producers.

The restriction is set to expire in mid-September, but the group intends to extend it until the end of the year. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky this week decried the effort as “un-European” and urged Brussels not to yield.

 

https://www.rt.com/russia/580439-ukrine-grain-export-eu/

 

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black sea warning.....

Russia warned that any ships traveling to Ukraine's Black Sea ports from Thursday will be seen as possibly carrying military cargoes after Ukraine said it was setting up a temporary shipping route to try and continue its grain exports.

The moves by both countries on Wednesday came just days after Russia quit a grain deal — brokered by the United Nations and Turkiye — that allowed the safe passage of Black Sea exports of Ukrainian grain for the past year.

Ukraine claimed it wanted to try and continue its Black Sea grain shipments and told the UN shipping agency International Maritime Organization that it had "decided to establish on a temporary basis a recommended maritime route".

But Russia's Defense Ministry then said it would deem all ships traveling to Ukraine to be potentially carrying military cargo and "the flag countries of such ships will be considered parties to the Ukrainian conflict".

The Defense Ministry did not say what actions it might take but announced in a statement on Telegram that the move would start at midnight Moscow time.

Russia also declared the southeastern and northwestern parts of the Black Sea's international waters to be temporarily unsafe for navigation, the ministry said, without giving details about parts of the sea that would be affected.

"It underscores that we're trying to work and continue to work in what is effectively a war zone," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday when asked about the Russian warning.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin met Turkish Ambassador to Russia Mehmet Samsar on Wednesday and explained why the grain deal was terminated.

The Russian side once again stressed that the lack of progress in the implementation of the Russia-UN memorandum was one of the key reasons behind the principled decision to terminate the Black Sea Initiative on exporting Ukrainian food after its expiration on July 17, the Russian foreign ministry said.

During a meeting with government officials on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is ready to return to the grain deal immediately if all previously agreed-upon conditions for its participation in the initiative are met and the arrangement's "original humanitarian essence" is restored.

Essence 'twisted'

Putin said Western countries entirely twisted the essence of the grain deal, resulting in profits for European companies and losses for Russian businesses.

"The grain deal turned into direct losses and losses for Russian agricultural producers, for enterprises producing fertilizers," Putin said. "Because of a 30-40 percent discount on Russian grain on global markets, the losses of Russian farmers amounted to $1.2 billion."

On Thursday, Chinese Foreign spokeswoman Mao Ning said in a daily briefing: "We hope that parties concerned will properly resolve international food security issues through dialogue and consultation."

China's position on the Ukraine crisis is consistent and clear-cut and "we will continue to play a constructive role in facilitating the political settlement of the crisis", Mao said.

Separately, a video released on Wednesday appears to show Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin for the first time, since he led an attempted mutiny last month. He was seen telling his troops they would spend some time in Belarus training its military before going to Africa.

 

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202307/21/WS64b9dd8fa31035260b817b31.html

 

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