Kiev: first ship with grain arrived in Ethiopia
The first vessel with 25,000 tons of grain under the Grain from Ukraine humanitarian food program arrived in Ethiopia. The head of the office of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, Andriy Yermak, announced this on Telegram. Zelensky himself confirmed it on Twitter: “We are sending food. We are sending hope”.
As part of the humanitarian programme, the Kiev government expects to send at least 60 ships that will set sail from the ports by the end of next spring, therefore an average of ten a month, directed towards countries that are at risk of famine and drought: Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Congo, Kenya, Nigeria.
According to Kiev, the Grain From Ukraine humanitarian initiative together with the Black Sea grain corridors are the response to Russia’s attempt to “use food as a weapon”. Moscow, on the other hand, replies that, from shipments by the international community, the poorest countries have received only 3% of all grain sent from Ukraine. According to the Ankara government, more than 12 million tons of grain have been exported since August 1, when the agreement between Kiev and Moscow to unblock Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea and create a cereal corridor came into force. The agreement, whose goal is to alleviate the food crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, will last until mid-March, because Russia and Ukraine agreed on November 17, two days before the scheduled deadline, to extend the agreement four months.
