Russia ends the Black Sea Grain Initiative

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 17 Jul 2023 by Alex Teddy
On July 17 Russia officially confirmed that it will not allow BSGI to be renewed. BSGI therefore ends today. It was launched in July 2022 and renewed twice. Russia suggested for a few weeks that it would not extend BSGI. On July 14 the Turkish president said that Putin told him that the deal would be renewed. Putin's spokesman said that the non-renewal was unrelated to the Crimean Bridge attack. BSGI enabled Ukraine to export grain, sunflower, wheat and barley via a Turkish waterway. Ukraine and Russia signed separate deals with the United Nations to allow the BSGI. Russia said it will revive BSGI if sufficient concessions are made. Putin said the BSGI allows Russia to export food and fertilizer but this has been reneged on. The end of the BSGI will mean abruptly rising food prices in various Middle Eastern and African countries. Some of them like Syria and Russian holidays. There are other neutral countries that Russia may alienate such as Bangladesh and Egypt. The EU slammed Russia's move, saying it will cause severe hardship for less economically developed countries.  Ukraine can export grain via the Danube. Some grain can be transported overland to Romania and shipped out from there. But Ukraine will not be able to export as much as before. The end of the BSGI will hurt Ukraine's economy, which has already shrunk 30% since February 2022. It will cause the EU to have to fund Ukraine by even more than the EUR 6 billion it gives every month.

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