UN Names Kuwaiti Coordinator For The Black Sea Grain Initiative

On Wednesday, Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, recently named a retired vice admiral from Kuwait as a coordinator of the Black Sea Grain initiative to tackle shipments from a war-torn Ukraine.

Abdullah Dashti will help coordinate the operation by Turkey, Russia, the UN, and Ukraine to make sure that the shipments of fertilizers, grains, oilseeds, and other products move safely to target markets from the Black Sea.

The exports from Ukraine, a critical supplier of oilseeds, grains, and vegetable oils to the worldwide markets, were cut off by one of Russia’s naval embargoes after Moscow’s forces reportedly invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

That sent prices for agricultural products soaring worldwide, hitting wheat importers in Africa and the Middle East particularly hard.

In July 2022, the UN, Ukraine, Turkey, and Russia agreed to permit shipments to resume from the ports of Ukraine.

The initiative further permitted Russia to export food and fertilizers, crucial to global agriculture, via the Black Sea without any fear of sanctions.

Dashti succeeds Amir Abdulla of Sudan, who has been the UN coordinator since August.

Dashti retired back in 2021 from Kuwait’s armed forces and has about 40 years of extensive experience in naval leadership, operations, and management in Kuwait and other multinational deployments, Guterres’s office informed.

In 2019 and 2020, he was Kuwait’s military defence attaché in Belgium and Kuwait’s representative to Nato.

Over 14 million tons of grain has been reportedly exported from Ukraine following the Black Sea Initiative, the UN’s trade and development agency head, Rebeca Grynspan, mentioned on 15 December.

References: The National News, United Nations

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Source: Maritime Shipping News