The UN said that the main goal of the Black Sea initiative is humanitarian, not commercial

The main goal of the Black Sea initiative is humanitarian, not commercial, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary General, said at a briefing.

"The main goal of the Black Sea Initiative is a humanitarian one. It is true that quite a lot of transactions related to the supply of grain are commercial. But these commercial transactions help our goal by maintaining a lower level of food prices in the world, and, in particular, more low level for grain. So, first of all, these are humanitarian efforts, even in cases where they relate to commercial transactions," Haq emphasized.

The Black Sea Initiative, which was signed on July 22, 2022 by representatives of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN, involves the export of Ukrainian grain and food, as well as fertilizers across the Black Sea from three ports, including Odessa. The coordination of vessel traffic is handled by the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul. Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out that the West exports most of the Ukrainian grain to their own states, and not to needy countries in Africa.

The grain initiative is an integral part of the package agreement. The second part - the Russia-UN memorandum, designed for three years - provides for the unblocking of Russian exports of food and fertilizers, among the main tasks was the reconnection of the Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT, the resumption of supplies of agricultural machinery, spare parts and services, the restoration of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline and a number of other measures. As noted in Moscow, this part of the package agreement has not yet been implemented.