MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2022) Head of Ukrainian President's Office Andriy Yermak says the first ship with grain has arrived in Ethiopia as part of the "Grain from Ukraine" program, media report.
The ship has brought 25,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat to Ethiopia, Yermak said on Telegram, as cited by Ukrainian Korrespondent.net online newspaper.
Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the "Grain From Ukraine" international humanitarian project would help recover food security in the poorest countries, including Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen.
On November 26, Zelenskyy, during the visit of the heads of governments of Hungary, Belgium, Lithuania and Poland to Kiev, officially launched the "Grain From Ukraine" initiative, which stipulates that, by the end of spring 2023, Ukraine should send at least 60 ships with grain to countries threatened by famine and drought, namely Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Congo, Kenya and Nigeria.
On July 22, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations struck a deal to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships with food and fertilizer exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that most of the ships carrying Ukrainian grain did not make it to the world's poorest countries and ended up in Europe. At the same time, Putin has voiced his concerns that Russian products are not entering the global markets as promised by the agreement. Since then, the grain deal, originally scheduled to expire on November 19, has been extended for another 120 days.
