Hungary is planning to hold talks with Turkey on expanding the number of ports which process exports of Ukrainian agricultural products under the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative because the current maritime routes transfer only 12% of Ukrainian grain, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture Istvan Nagy said after a meeting with his Polish counterpart, Robert Telus.
"The current solidarity routes do not fulfill their role because the products are stuck in Ukraine's neighboring countries. Earlier we had 40-50 tonnes of grain left, now we are talking about 2.5 million tonnes ... The goal is to expand the traditional sea transport route, which now transfers only 12% of Ukrainian products," Nagy said in a statement, as quoted by the Hungarian Agriculture Ministry.
The statement read that Nagy had asked Telus for a mandate to hold negotiations with Turkey on launching new sea routes for grain exports along with the existing three Black Sea ports. Telus said it was important to boost the number of ports for Ukrainian grain exports, adding that Warsaw would support the move, the statement added.
Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN reached an agreement on July 22, 2022, to unblock grain and fertilizer exports in the Black Sea amid the military conflict between Moscow and Kiev. The package deal included a memorandum between the UN and Russia to facilitate Russian exports, including through the Tolyatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline. Moscow has since agreed to several extensions to the deal, which is now due to expire in mid-July, but complained that its memorandum component was not being fully implemented.