Inclusion of Mykolaiv ports in the "Grain Initiative", acceleration of inspection of vessels in the Bosphorus and extension of agreements for at least 1 year. These issues were discussed during the visit of the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Oleksandr Kubrakov, the US Ambassador Bridget Brink, and the US Special Representative for Sanctions Policy James O'Brien to the ports of Odessa and Yuzhny.

"77 ships are waiting in line for inspection in Turkey, the ports of the Odessa region are using up to 50% of their capacity, the price of grain is increasing with each new blackmail from Russia.

Artificial delay leads to losses on the part of farmers and ship owners, ultimately losing the most vulnerable sections of the population and countries on the verge of starvation. One day of downtime costs at least 30 thousand dollars. Now the vessels are waiting for inspection - from 2 to 5 weeks. Strategically, we should achieve not only speeding up inspections on the Bosphorus, but also joining the Mykolaiv Port Initiative and prolonging the agreement for at least a year. I am grateful to the American partners for their cooperation and willingness to promote the strengthening of the "Grain Initiative" on international platforms," commented the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov.

According to the Minister, Ukraine has already officially addressed the UN and Turkey with a proposal to join the Mykolayiv port to the "Grain Initiative" and is waiting for a response from the guarantors of the agreements.

Also, as part of the visit, the Minister of Infrastructure and representatives of the USA met with representatives of the port and agrarian business and discussed options for supporting their work within the framework of the Initiative.

As a reminder, since August 1, more than 12 million tons of Ukrainian food was exported from the ports of the Odessa region to the countries of Asia, Europe, and Africa.