A few weeks ago, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres proposed that all the parties to the Black Sea Grain Initiative (which established a humanitarian maritime corridor to allow ships to export grain and other foodstuffs from Ukraine) begin negotiations on resumption of the operation of the Togliatti - Odesa ammonia pipeline, which the Russian Federation had previously insisted upon. However, Russia is refusing to participate in such negotiations.
Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Development of Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure Yurii Vaskov announced this at the Grain Ukraine conference on 30 May, the CFTS portal reports, citing the Latifundist publication.
According to Vaskov, Turkey and Ukraine agreed to hold negotiations on the issue but Russia withdrew from the negotiation process, stating that the five demands it made earlier must be met first.
"The ammonia pipeline technically allows the pumping of 100,000 tons per month if it resumes operation... At today's ammonia prices, that is a profit of USD 28-30 million for Russian shippers and producers. This is not a big enough figure for them in economic terms, compared with what Ukraine expects," Vaskov said.
The deputy minister added that the grain deal must be implemented fully before the operation of the ammonia pipeline can resume. According to him, the signing of an additional agreement on ammonia transit can be discussed after that.
As reported earlier, the foreign minister of Russia said in April that the following demands must be met for the humanitarian maritime corridor to operate uninterruptedly: the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) must be allowed to return to the SWIFT messaging system for banks; the supply of agricultural machinery to Russia must be allowed; the restrictions on insurance and reinsurance must be lifted; Russian ships and cargo must be allowed port access; the Togliatti - Odesa ammonia pipeline must be reopened; the foreign assets and accounts of Russian companies linked to the production and transportation of food and fertilizers must be unfrozen.
As the CFTS portal reported, the Russian Federation is building a terminal for the transshipment of ammonia and nitrogen fertilizers in the port of Taman while using the issue of resumption of the transit of Russian ammonia to the Pivdennyi port to exert pressure.
