In recent years the global crises the world is going under have brought to light its negative effects in many areas especially in international politics. When the Ukrainian and Russian conflict, which commenced on 24 February 2022, was added to the disruptions suffered by the Covid-19 epidemic along with the pandemic, the concerns regarding the agricultural sector and the supply of food flow around the world have gained seriousness on a global scale.
Considering that both countries are leaders in the world market for grain and play an eminent role in terms of basic agricultural products, the current relations of the two countries have made it very difficult for the import-dependent countries to obtain food since the Ukrainian grain couldn’t expand to the Black Sea and had been held up in the Ukrainian ports. In order to eliminate the global food risk and to come to terms between two parties, the Grain Corridor Agreement (“the Agreement”) was successfully signed on 22 July 2022 at Dolmabahçe Palace between Turkey Russia, Ukraine and United Nations (“UN”) as a result of diplomatic relations carried out by Turkey.
In a general manner, the Agreement aims to create a “safe grain corridor” for the ships carrying grain and related foodstuffs which were stuck at the critical ports of Ukraine such as Odessa. By this means, pending ships will leave the mined areas and navigate their way through the Black Sea without any problem. As an outcome of the Agreement Russia will allow the vessels which will depart from Ukraine’s ports namely Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny to pass through the Black Sea ports; this way the vessels will traverse the Black Sea in a determined corridor then pass-through Bosporus strait and conclusively open up to the world market.
While both countries blame each other for the mines that were placed on and around the ports of Odessa, Ozi, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny, the issue of laying mines around the busy commercial sea-lanes in the Black Sea is a far bigger danger and poses a multinational threat since one of the mines which got rid of its anchor and became a “stray mine” was recently seen near the Bosporus strait indicating that this is not just a political tension between the opposing countries and its effects do not solely remain between these two countries. Although demining works are not fully being carried out at this stage, Moscow’s commitment ang guarantee that no military attack will be carried out on Ukraine’s ports constitutes one of the most important points of the negotiations carried out by the parties.
Another focal point and benefit of the Agreement has been the decision to establish a coordination center in Istanbul for the execution and inspection of safe shipment of the grain products from Ukraine. The Joint Coordination Center (“JCC”) was inaugurated on 27 July 2022 and holds its place at the National Defense University in Istanbul. The JCC has 5 representatives, including military and civilian, each from Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and UN and its main duty is to ensure the safe transportation of grain and related foodstuffs via seaway from the above-mentioned ports. The JCC will also monitor the movement of commercial vessels to ensure compliance with the Agreement and carry out their registration process.
Within the scope of the Agreement, the first grain carrying vessel to depart from Ukraine’s port Odessa has been the Sierra-Leone flagged Razoni. After dropping anchor near Rumelifeneri, the Razoni vessel which was carrying 27 tons of corn was subjected to inspection by the committee members from Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and the UN. The committee of the JCC who boarded the vessel carried out cargo inspections in the holds and checked whether there were any passengers other than the authorized crew.
Although at first glance it was thought that the arrival port for Razoni would be Lebanon, after carrying out necessary signature and recording processes in Istanbul, the vessel followed route through the Marmara Sea, the Dardanelles, the Aegean Sea and the Mediterrenean and arrived to the Tartus Port of Syria. The JCC conveyed the message that change of route of the vessels are not within their radar after necessary inspection and clearances are carried out in Istanbul. Therefore, the journey of the Razoni sheds light on the way in which the JCC will approach to the inspection process of the vessels who will use the grain corridor. The Agreement will renew itself unless there isn’t any motion for termination by the parties and it is without a question that the committee members of the JCC will carry out each inspection with a thorough approach for each vessel who will navigate through the grain corridor.
As it can be understood from here, Turkey will be the final control point of the vessels that will pass through the grain corridor due to its geopolitical position and diplomatic approach. Following the JCC’s statement it can be interpreted that technical track of the vessels will be carried through satellite, internet and other means of communication from Ukrainian ports until arrival in Turkey and any changes in the route or the destination port of the vessels will not pose any threat to the JCC once the necessary controls have been fully completed in Turkey.
Considering that the Agreement’s validity period was for 120 days, one of the question marks has been what would happen to the validity of the Agreement if one of the parties did not wish to extend the time period. On 29 October 2022, Russia announced that it suspended its participation to the Agreement as a result of the alleged attack on Russia’s war and civilian vessels carried out by Ukraine’s drone attack which took place in the city of Sevastopol in Crimea. The Russian President Putin stated that the purpose behind this suspension is to ensure the safety of the Russian vessels and demanded that UN should work with Ukraine and Ukraine should ensure that no threat would be put upon Russian civilian and supply vessels.
This has undoubtedly raised concerns about how the Agreement will be executed in the near future and whether any guarantees will be given by Ukraine. Although this was the case, on 2 October 2022 the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that they will pursue with the continuation of the Agreement and stated that the guarantees provided by Kiev was deemed sufficient for the time being for the Russian Federation. While this situation undoubtedly gives a sigh of relief for the continuance of food exportation globally, it has also left a question mark in the minds whether the parties will be able to endure and maintain the renewal period of the Agreement following the recent events.