Ukraine has allocated UAH 20 billion for guaranteeing the financial safety of ships transporting Ukrainian agricultural products through the Black Sea grain corridor.
Member of Parliament Dmytro Solomchuk, a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy, announced this in a statement, the CFTS portal reports, citing the Ukrinform news agency.
"A decision was made to allocate UAH 20 billion in insurance guarantee funds. Ships will be able to enter Ukrainian seaports even if Russia does not guarantee safety and opposes the ‘corridor.’ There are shipowners who are ready to enter anyway, and Ukraine will guarantee their financial safety with this UAH 20 billion insurance fund," he said.
According to Solomchuk, the leaders of various countries are currently negotiating the extension of the grain deal beyond 18 July 2023.
"I think a decision will be made a day or two before the agreement expires. We hope that the decision will be positive, given that so many countries are involved in this process," he said.
As reported earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated on 4 July that "there are no grounds for further extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which will expire on 17 July."
Russia has reiterated its demand that the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) be allowed to return to the SWIFT international bank messaging system in exchange for the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and said it would not accept a compromise.
Meanwhile, some experts have expressed the view that the navies of three Black Sea NATO countries - Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria - could guarantee shipping safety within the grain corridor.
