DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Russian Agricultural Bank files lawsuit against JP Morgan
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A J.P. Morgan logo is seen in New York City, U.S. January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Nov 21 (Reuters) - State-owned Russian Agricultural Bank has filed a lawsuit against JP Morgan (JPM.N) in a Moscow court, court files showed on Tuesday. Russian Agricultural Bank, the main financial intermediary for Russian food and fertiliser exports, has been hit by Western sanctions and disconnected from the SWIFT international payment system. While trying to salvage a deal that allowed grains to be safely exported from Ukraine's Black Sea ports, the United Nations earlier this year arranged for JP Morgan to operate a special payments link with the Russian bank. Russian banks have also filed dozens of lawsuits against Western financial intermediaries over funds frozen due to sanctions.

Persons: Morgan, Stephanie Keith, JP Morgan, Elena Fabrichnaya, Olzhas Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Russian Agricultural Bank, SWIFT, United Nations, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Moscow, Russian

☆ Russia to Return to Grain Deal Once All Moscow's Conditions Met, Lavrov Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Katya GolubkovaNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Russia will return to the Black Sea grain deal 'the same day' as Moscow's conditions for export of its own grain and fertilisers to the global markets are met, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Sunday. Supplies were obstructed after Russia invaded Ukraine last year in what Moscow calls a 'special military operation'. The United Nations, Turkey and this year's G7 chair Japan are trying to facilitate the resumption of grain supplies. Ukraine opposes the idea of easing sanctions on Russia in order to revive a grain deal. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday he was not 'hopeless' about reviving the deal, and Russia, Ukraine and Turkey would continue to discuss it.

Persons: Katya Golubkova, Sergei Lavrov, Russia, Lavrov, Tayyip Erdogan, SWIFT, General Antonio, Guterres, Christina Fincher Organizations: United, The United, Reuters, UN, Russian Agricultural Bank, SWIFT Locations: DELHI, Russia, United Nations, Turkey, New Delhi, Ukraine, Moscow, The United Nations, Japan, Turkish, Luxembourg

☆ Russian Agricultural Bank could have SWIFT access within 30 days, UN tells Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Acquire Licensing RightsSept 8 (Reuters) - A Russian Agricultural Bank subsidiary in Luxembourg could immediately apply to SWIFT to "effectively enable access" for the bank to the international payments system within 30 days, the United Nations told Russia in a letter, seen by Reuters on Friday. A key Russian demand has been the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank, Rosselkhozbank, to the SWIFT international payments system. "SWIFT has already confirmed that an expedited application process could be possible, bringing the time for effective access within 30 days," Guterres wrote. Russian fertilizer companies would also have to apply to national authorities within the EU for exemptions and the U.N. would engage with the EU on those requests. "The United Nations can help clarify the authorization process for different EU ports and work with Russian counterparts on obtaining the authorizations/permits pre-departure, if required."

Persons: Dado Ruvic, SWIFT, Antonio Guterres, Sergei Lavrov, Guterres, Lavrov, Russia's, RAB, John Neal, Lloyd's, Michelle Nichols, Chizu Organizations: REUTERS, Russian Agricultural Bank, United Nations, Reuters, RSHB Capital S.A, Russian, Black Sea Initiative, Russian Foreign Ministry, UN Secretariat, SWIFT, European Union, UN, RAB, Facility, Lloyd's, RIC, European Commission, Thomson Locations: Bosnia, Herzegovina, Luxembourg, Russia, United, Moscow, Turkey, Ukraine, London, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Netherlands

☆ With grain deal in focus, Putin to meet Erdogan in Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"The current status (of the grain deal) will be discussed at the summit on Monday. Putin has said Russia could return to the grain deal if the West fulfils a separate memorandum agreed with the United Nations at the same time to facilitate Russian food and fertiliser exports. Ahead of the Erdogan talks, Ukrainian officials said Russia launched an overnight air attack on one of Ukraine's major grain exporting ports. In its report on the Erdogan meeting, Russian state television said promises made to Russia must be implemented. For Russia, Erdogan is a key broker - and one respected personally by Putin.

Persons: Mehmet Bey, Mehmet Emin Calsikan, Erdogan, Putin, Tayyip Erdogan, Vladimir Putin, Russia, Dmitry Peskov, Akif Cagatay Kilic, Kilic, Russia's, António Guterres, Sergei Lavrov, Maria Zakharova, Guy Faulconbridge, Lidia Kelly, Michelle Nichols, Robert Birsel, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: REUTERS, UN, Kremlin, United, Haber, United Nations, Russian, Russian Agricultural Bank, SWIFT, Toksabay, Thomson Locations: Yenikapi, Istanbul, Turkey, Sochi Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine MOSCOW, Russia's Black, Sochi, United Nations, Moscow, Izmail, Ukraine's Odesa, EU, Russian, Melbourne, Ankara

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on Friday to discuss grain ahead of the Erdogan meeting. "It turned out that it is more difficult to do this than to build new corridors, new ground routes," said Shoigu, who attended the signing ceremony for the Black Sea deal in Istanbul in 2022. Turkey's foreign minister said at a briefing in Moscow on Thursday that reviving the deal was important for the world. U.S. wheat prices rose on Friday, though Lavrov said on Thursday that Russia saw no sign that it would receive the guarantees needed to revive the grain deal. Lavrov said he had discussed Putin's initiative to supply up to 1 million tonnes of Russian grain to Turkey at reduced prices for subsequent processing at Turkish plants and shipping to countries most in need.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Tayyip Erdogan, Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Putin, Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan, Dmitry Peskov, Erdogan, Hakan Fidan, Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, it's, Russia's, António Guterres, Sergei Lavrov, Lavrov, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey, Conor Humphries, Alison Williams Organizations: Sputnik, Erdogan, UN, United Nations, United, Kremlin, Turkish, Russian, Central African, Initiative, Qatar, Russian Agricultural Bank, SWIFT, Thomson Locations: Asia, Astana, Kazakhstan, Sochi Turkey, Russia, MOSCOW, Black, Sochi, Ankara, Ukraine, United Nations, Turkey, Moscow, Istanbul, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic, Eritrea, EU, Odesa

☆ UN chief sends Russia bid to revive Black Sea grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Turkish-flagged bulker TQ Samsun, carrying grain under UN's Black Sea Grain Initiative, is pictured in the Black Sea, north of Bosphorus Strait, off Istanbul, Turkey July 17, 2023. Two Turkish sources told Reuters the pair will meet on Monday and primarily discuss Black Sea grain exports. The Black Sea grain deal was intended to combat a global food crisis that the United Nations said had been worsened by Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. "We cannot have a Black Sea initiative that moves from crisis to crisis, from suspension to suspension. Russia has said that if demands to improve its own exports of grain and fertilizer were met, it would consider resurrecting the Black Sea agreement.

Persons: Yoruk, António Guterres, Sergei Lavrov, Vladimir Putin, Tayyip Erdogan, Russia's, Guterres, Lavrov, Hakan Fidan, Michelle Nichols, Kanishka Singh, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, UNITED NATIONS, United Nations, Russian, United, Reuters, Turkish, Russian Agricultural Bank, SWIFT, Thomson Locations: Samsun, Bosphorus, Istanbul, Turkey, Russia, United Nations, Ukraine, Russian, Moscow, EU

☆ Russia says JPMorgan stops processing its grain payments
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Turkish-flagged bulker TQ Samsun, carrying grain under UN's Black Sea Grain Initiative, is pictured in the Black Sea, north of Bosphorus Strait, off Istanbul, Turkey July 17, 2023. REUTERS/Yoruk Isik/File PhotoUNITED NATIONS, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday that U.S. bank JPMorgan (JPM.N) had this week stopped processing payments for the Russian Agricultural Bank as Moscow demanded action, not promises, from Washington to help Russian grain and fertilizer reach global markets. Under a related pact - also brokered in July 2022 - U.N. officials agreed to help facilitate Russian food and fertilizer exports. As a workaround to that demand, JPMorgan had been processing some Russian grain export payments with reassurances from Washington. Russia may export at least 55 million tonnes of grain in the 2023/24 marketing season, slightly less than the estimated record-breaking 57 million tonnes in the 2022/23 season, Russia's Grain Union said last month.

Persons: Yoruk, Dmitry Peskov, Antony Blinken, Maria Zakharova, James O'Brien, O'Brien, Michelle Nichols, Daphne Psaledakis, Simon Lewis, Jane Merriman Organizations: REUTERS, UNITED NATIONS, JPMorgan, Russian Agricultural Bank, SWIFT, European Union, United Nations, U.S . State Department, Russia's, Ministry, Thomson Locations: Samsun, Bosphorus, Istanbul, Turkey, Russia, Moscow, Washington, Ukraine

☆ EU warns that Russia aims to create new dependencies with cheap grain
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Turkish-flagged bulker TQ Samsun, carrying grain under UN's Black Sea Grain Initiative, is pictured in the Black Sea, north of Bosphorus Strait, off Istanbul, Turkey July 17, 2023. After Russia quit last month it began targeting Ukrainian ports and grain infrastructure on the Black Sea and Danube River and global grain prices spiked. "This is a cynical policy of deliberately using food as a weapon to create new dependencies by exacerbating economic vulnerabilities and global food insecurity," he added. He said the EU would "continue to support the tireless efforts" of the United Nations and Turkey to revive the Black Sea grain deal. Borrell shared the July 31 letter with his EU counterparts on Wednesday, saying it aimed "to counter Russian disinformation around global food security and the impact of EU sanctions."

Persons: Yoruk, Josep Borrell, Russia, Borrell, Vladimir Putin, Antonio Guterres, Antony Blinken, Michelle Nichols, Grant McCool Organizations: REUTERS, UNITED NATIONS, European, Reuters, United, Russian Agricultural Bank, SWIFT, EU, European Commission, United Nations, Security, Thomson Locations: Samsun, Bosphorus, Istanbul, Turkey, Russia, EU, Moscow, Ukraine, United Nations, Russian, Africa, New York

☆ Black Sea grain deal to expire Monday if Russia quits
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Russia's February 2022 invasion and blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports sent global grain prices soaring. The United Nations has argued that the arrangement has benefited those states by helping lower food prices more than 20% globally. Russia has agreed three times in the past year to extend the Black Sea deal, but also briefly suspended its participation at the end of October in response to a drone attack on its fleet in Crimea. To convince Russia to agree to the Black Sea deal, a three-year deal was also struck in July 2022 under which U.N. officials agreed to help Russia get its food and fertilizer exports to foreign markets. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a final effort on Tuesday to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to extend the Black Sea grain deal for several months in exchange for the EU connecting a subsidiary of Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT for grain and fertilizer transactions, sources said.

Persons: Russia's, Sergei Lavrov, James, Antonio Guterres, Vladimir Putin, Guterres, Putin, Michelle Nichols, Will Dunham Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, United, United Nations, . Security, British, Food, Russian Agricultural Bank, SWIFT, European Union, EU, JPMorgan Chase &, reassurances, U.S ., The United Nations, African Export, Import Bank, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Russia, United Nations, Turkey, Ukraine's, Britain, Afghanistan, Sudan, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Yemen, Asia, Western Europe, Africa, Eastern Europe, Crimea, Moscow, SWIFT, Rosselkhozbank

☆ A landmark agricultural deal that guarantees food security for tens of millions is set to expire on Monday as Russia debates its renewal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Amanda Macias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Black Sea deal has allowed Ukraine to ship more than 30 million tons of produce from three major ports, helping to bring down global food prices down after they spiked following Russia's invasion. Last week, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin outlining proposals to salvage the deal. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Nacho Doce | ReutersBefore Russian troops poured over Ukraine's borders in late February 2022, Kyiv and Moscow accounted for almost a quarter of global grain exports. Those agricultural shipments came to a halt for nearly six months until representatives from Ukraine, Russia, the U.N. and Turkey agreed to establish a humanitarian sea corridor under the Black Sea Grain Initiative. One of Moscow's top demands though is for the Russian Agricultural Bank, or Rosselkhozbank, to return to the SWIFT banking system.

Persons: Akos Stiller, Antonio Guterres, Vladimir Putin, U.N, Stephane Dujarric, Putin, Sergei Lavrov, Sean Gallup, Sergey Lavrov, Lavrov, That's, SWIFT Organizations: Bloomberg, Getty Images WASHINGTON, Kremlin, REUTERS, Reuters, Russian, Food, Sea Initiative, Russian Agricultural Bank, Society, Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication Locations: Bicske, Hungary, Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, Ukrainian, UN, Turkey, Odesa, Kyiv, Ukraine's, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Yuzhny, Moscow's

☆ EU helping UN, Turkey in bid to extend Black Sea grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A Kremlin spokesman later said that Russia had not taken a final decision on whether to exit the grain deal. The European Commission's priority is to ensure that Ukrainian grain can reach the world market and it calls on all parties to extend the Black Sea deal, a European Union spokesperson in Brussels said on Thursday. Russia has threatened to ditch the Black Sea grain deal because several demands to dispatch its own grain and fertilizer abroad have not been met. The last ship traveling under the Black Sea agreement is currently loading its cargo at the Ukrainian port of Odesa ahead of the Monday deadline. Britain has also "worked very closely with the City of London to enable a very complex payment system" for Russian grain, Britain's U.N. ambassador, Barbara Woodward, has said.

Persons: Antonio Guterres, Vladimir Putin, SWIFT, Guterres, Putin, Ursula von der Leyen, Putin's, U.N, Barbara Woodward, Woodward, Michelle Nichols, Foo Yun Chee, Angus MacSwan, Leslie Adler Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, European Commission, United, Black, European Union, Russian Agricultural Bank, Reuters, United Nations, Kremlin, JPMorgan Chase &, reassurances, U.S ., The United Nations, African Export, Import Bank, City, Thomson Locations: United Nations, Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, Ukrainian, EU, U.N, Moscow, Brussels, Russian, Odesa, Africa, Britain, London

☆ UN asks Putin to extend Black Sea grain deal in return for SWIFT access -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Russia has threatened to ditch the grain deal, which expires on Monday, because several demands to dispatch its own grain and fertilizer abroad have not been met. The last two ships traveling under the Black Sea agreement are currently loading cargoes at the Ukrainian port of Odesa ahead of the deadline. A key demand by Moscow is the reconnection of the Russian agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT international payment network. Guterres has proposed to Putin that Russia allow the Black Sea grain deal to continue for several months, giving the EU time to connect a Rosselkhozbank subsidiary to SWIFT, two of those sources familiar with discussions told Reuters. The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Russia and Ukraine in July 2022 to help alleviate a global food crisis worsened by Moscow's invasion and blockade of Ukrainian ports.

Persons: Antonio Guterres, Vladimir Putin, Guterres, Putin, SWIFT, U.N, Stephane Dujarric, JPM.N, Michelle Nichols, Kanishka Singh, Mark Heinrich, Diane Craft Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, Reuters, European Union, European Commission, EU, Russian Agricultural Bank, Russian Federation, Kremlin, United, JPMorgan Chase, reassurances, U.S ., The United Nations, African Export, Import Bank, Thomson Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Russia, Odesa, Moscow, EU, SWIFT, Rosselkhozbank, United Nations, Turkey, Ukrainian, Africa

☆ UN aid chief to Russia: Don't 'chuck away' Black Sea grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"The world has seen the value of the Black Sea Initiative ... this isn't something you chuck away," the U.N.'s Martin Griffiths told reporters. Zelenskiy said the Black Sea deal was important to help the world fight hunger. Russia has described the Black Sea deal and the agreement to facilitate its own exports as a single package. The Black Sea deal allows for ammonia exports - a key ingredient in nitrate fertilizer - but none has shipped. As the expiration date looms, the Black Sea grain deal is grinding to a halt.

Persons: Martin Griffiths, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Zelenskiy, Griffiths, Michelle Nichols, Elaine Monaghan, Oleksandr Kozhukhar, Doina Chiacu, Grant McCool Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, U.N, United Nations, Black Sea Initiative, United, Zelenskiy, Russian Federation, Russian Agricultural Bank, International Energy Agency, Sezer, Thomson Locations: Russia, Moscow, Odesa, United Nations, Turkey, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Istanbul, Russian, United, United States, European Union, Britain, Togliatti, Washington, Kyiv

☆ EU weighs concession to Russian bank over Black Sea grain deal -FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 3 (Reuters) - The European Union is considering a proposal for the Russian Agricultural Bank to set up a subsidiary to reconnect to the global financial network as a sop to Moscow, the Financial Times said on Monday. With the bank under sanctions, the move aims to safeguard the Black Sea grain deal that allows Ukraine to export food to global markets, the newspaper said. Russia last week said that it saw no reason to extend the grain deal beyond July 17 because the West had acted in an "outrageous" way over the agreement, though it assured poor countries that Russian grain exports would continue. Moscow's plan, proposed through U.N.-brokered talks, would let the bank unit handle payments related to grain exports, the paper said, citing unnamed sources. "On the one hand, any opportunities for agricultural exports are good.

Persons: Trofimtseva, SWIFT, Jahnavi, Pavel Polityuk, Kim Coghill, Clarence Fernandez, David Goodman Organizations: European, Russian Agricultural Bank, Financial Times, EU, Thomson Locations: European Union, Moscow, Ukraine, Russia, U.N, Bengaluru

☆ Kremlin: "Not too many hopes" for Black Sea grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, July 3 (Reuters) - Russia is pessimistic about the prospects of renewing the Black Sea grain deal because no progress has been made in implementing accompanying agreements that pertain to Russian exports, the Kremlin said on Monday. The deal, under which Russia has guaranteed the safety of grain ships heading to and from Ukrainian ports through waters it controls, is set to expire on July 18 and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a briefing there were "not too many hopes" it would be extended. To fulfil the memorandum, Russia says several conditions must be met, including the readmission of the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the Belgian-based international banking payment system, SWIFT. Asked to comment on the FT report, Peskov said: "So far we have nothing to report on the implementation of that part of the agreement that concerned the Russian side. Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Kevin Liffey Editing by Andrew OsbornOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, SWIFT, Peskov, Rosselkhozbank, Kevin Liffey, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Kremlin, Financial Times, European Union, Russian Agricultural Bank, Russia, United Nations, EU, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Moscow, Ukrainian, Belgian, Russian

☆ The global food crisis is getting so bad that the EU now wants to reconnect a sanctioned Russian bank to the global financial system to keep the grain supply moving
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The EU wants to reconnect a sanctioned Russian bank to the global financial system. The bloc is trying to secure Putin's support to extend the Black Sea grain deal, which expires shortly. The concession wants to let the state-owned Russian Agricultural Bank handle payments related to grain exports. The news of the potential concession came just as Gennady Gatilov, Russia's envoy to the United Nations, told the pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper there are no grounds to maintain the "status quo" of the Black Sea grain deal. The European Commission and the Russian Agricultural Bank did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.

Persons: —, SWIFT, Vladimir Putin's, Gennady Gatilov, Gatilov, Swift, Izvestia Organizations: Service, Financial Times, Russian Agricultural Bank, United Nations, Moscow, Kremlin Izvestia, UN Food and Agriculture Organization Food, European Commission Locations: Russian, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow

☆ Russia's envoy: No grounds to maintain grain deal status quo
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 3 (Reuters) - Russia's envoy to the United Nations in Geneva said there were no grounds to maintain the "status quo" of the Black Sea grain deal that is set to expire on July 18, the Russian news outlet Izvestia reported on Monday. In a wide ranging interview, envoy Gennady Gatilov told the outlet that the implementation of Russia's conditions for the extensions of the agreement was "stalling." "However, what we are seeing now does not give us grounds to agree to maintaining the status quo." Last week, the United Nations said it was concerned no new ships had been registered under the Black Sea deal since June 26 - despite applications being made by 29 vessels. The New Start Treaty, signed in 2010 is due to expire in 2026.

Persons: Gennady Gatilov, Gatilov, Izvestia, Vladimir Putin, Lidia Kelly, Lincoln Organizations: United Nations, Russian Agricultural Bank, United, Washington, Thomson Locations: Geneva, Russian, Russia, Ukraine, United Nations, Turkey, United States, Moscow, Washington, Izvestia Russia, Kyiv, Melbourne

☆ Explainer: What is Russia's problem with the Black Sea grain deal?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Putin said he would discuss the future of the grain deal with visiting African leaders on Saturday. THE PACKAGE DEALThe United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative last July to help tackle a global food crisis worsened by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and blockade of its Black Sea ports. Under the Black Sea grain deal, more than 625,000 tonnes of grain has so far been shipped by the WFP for aid operations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Yemen. Until the ammonia pipeline is restarted, Moscow has said it will limit the number of vessels allowed to travel to Pivdennyi port under the Black Sea grain deal. RUSSIAN GRAIN, FERTILIZER EXPORTSWhile exports of Russian wheat and some fertilisers have risen since the war, exports of Russian ammonia and potassium-based fertilizers have plummeted.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Stephane Dujarric, Linda Thomas, Greenfield, JPM.N, Daniel Wallis Organizations: United, United Nations, Food Programme, The United Nations, Democratic, Agricultural Bank, European Union, EU, JPMorgan Chase, reassurances, U.S ., African Export, Import Bank, Reuters, U.S . Department of Agriculture, Thomson Locations: Russia, Moscow, United Nations, Turkey, Ukraine, Africa, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, United States, America, SWIFT, Russia's Togliatti, Ukraine's, Ukrainian, Ukraine's Kharkiv, East

☆ UN concerned by lack of grain ships going to one Ukrainian port
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Black Sea grain deal - brokered by the U.N. and Turkey last July - allows for the safe export of ammonia and Russia has been pushing for the pipeline to be restarted. Russia agreed last week for the Black Sea pact to be extended for two months. The Black Sea grain deal ground to a halt last week as Russia decided whether to continue it. He noted that no fertilizers, including ammonia, had yet been exported under the Black Sea agreement. The Kremlin said on Monday that the EU's reluctance to reconnect Russia's state agricultural bank to SWIFT showed the bloc's "non-constructive stance" on the Black Sea grain deal.

☆ Factbox: What are the deals on Ukraine, Russia grain exports?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

UKRAINE BLACK SEA GRAIN EXPORT DEALBrokered by the United Nations and Turkey, the deal has so far allowed Ukraine to safely export more than 30 million tonnes of grain from several of its Black Sea ports. Under the deal:- Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations set up a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul, staffed by officials from each party. - Ukraine can safely export grain and related foodstuffs and fertilizers, including ammonia, from the ports of Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. Under the memorandum of understanding:- Russia agreed to continue commercial supplies of food and fertilizers and inform the U.N. of any impediments to such exports, including fertilizer raw materials like ammonia. Russia agreed to facilitate the unimpeded export of food, sunflower oil and fertilizers from Ukrainian-controlled Black Sea ports.

☆ Russia demands full implementation of Black Sea grain deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, April 27 (Reuters) - Only its full implementation can save the Black Sea grain deal from collapse, Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday, reaffirming Moscow's dissatisfaction with an accord that aims to prevent a global food crisis. The deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, allows Ukrainian grain trapped by the conflict to be safely exported from the country's Black Sea ports. But Russia has repeatedly said it will not allow the deal to be extended beyond May 18 unless the West removes obstacles to Russian grain and fertiliser exports. Russia and Ukraine are major grain producers, but Moscow says parts of the deal that are meant to allow it to export its own agricultural goods via the Black Sea are not being honoured. One of Russia's main demands in negotiations is the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the SWIFT payments system.

UNITED NATIONS – The basic food security of tens of millions across the globe is hanging by a thread as Russia mulls whether it will preserve a deal that has permitted Ukrainian grain to move through the Black Sea. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday renewed threats of abandoning the Black Sea Grain Initiative, an agreement that allows the safe wartime export of agricultural products from besieged Ukrainian ports. Lavrov also said that the deal is currently one-sided since Russian fertilizers have not been able to transit the same way Ukrainian grain has. "It was not called the grain deal it was called the Black Sea Initiative and in the text itself the agreement stated that this applies to the expansion of opportunities to export grain and fertilizer," Lavrov told reporters during a press conference. Lavrov said there are dozens of Russian cargo vessels carrying some 200,000 tons of fertilizer stuck at European ports.

☆ What are the deals on Ukraine, Russia grain exports?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

UKRAINE BLACK SEA GRAIN EXPORT DEALBrokered by the United Nations and Turkey, the deal has so far allowed Ukraine to safely export more than 27 million tonnes of grain from several of its Black Sea ports. Under the deal:- Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations set up a Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, staffed by officials from each party. - Ukraine can safely export grain and related foodstuffs and fertilizers, including ammonia, from the ports of Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. DEAL TO PROMOTE RUSSIAN FOOD AND FERTILIZER EXPORTSTo help persuade Russia to allow Ukraine to resume its Black Sea grain exports last year, a separate three-year agreement was also struck in July last year in which the United Nations agreed to help Russia with its food and fertilizer exports. The United States has pushed back on Moscow's demands, saying "the only prohibitions on food and fertilizer exports from Russia are those imposed by the government" of Russia.

Under the pact to create a safe shipping channel, Ukraine has been able to export some 27.7 million tonnes of agricultural products, including 13.9 million tonnes of corn and 7.5 million tonnes of wheat. The leading destinations have been China (6.3 million tonnes), Spain (4.8 million) and Turkey (3 million). Ukraine's grain exports are forecast to fall in the 2023/24 season after the war has meant farmers planted less corn and wheat. The International Grains Council has forecast that Ukraine's corn crop will fall to 21 million tonnes, down from the prior season's 27 million, with exports expected to drop to 15 million tonnes from 20.5 million. CAN UKRAINE EXPORT MORE GRAIN THROUGH LAND ROUTES?

Summary Russia to West: remove obstacles to agricultural exportsLavrov: West should take UN proposals seriouslyLavrov: Ukraine may have to use land/rivers for exportsLavrov: Russia may work around Black Sea grain dealMOSCOW, April 7 (Reuters) - Russia warned the West on Friday that unless obstacles to its exports of grain and fertilisers were removed, then Ukraine would have to export grain over land and Moscow would work outside the UN-brokered landmark grain export deal. The Black Sea grain deal is an attempt by the United Nations to ease a food crisis that predated the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but was made worse by the most deadly war in Europe since World War Two. The deal, first signed by Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN in July last year and twice extended, allows for the export of food and fertiliser, including ammonia from Ukraine's Black Sea ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, Yuzhny/Pivdennyi. If the West continued to refuse to remove the obstacles to Russian exports, Moscow would work around the grain deal, Lavrov said beside his Turkish counterpart at a news conference in Ankara. Since its signing, the 120-day grain deal has been extended twice, once in November and a second time in March, though Russia said the March extension was only for 60 days.

Search resuls for: "Russian Agricultural Bank"

25 mentions found