Ukraine to introduce insurance for “grain corridor” vessels – PM Shmyhal

Ukraine plans to start insuring vessels that will pass through the "grain corridor" at the expense of its own budget.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, said this at the press conference.

According to Shmyhal, Ukraine has already insured ships that export and import goods through the Danube ports. A similar step can be taken regarding the "grain corridor."

"Now we are discussing that in the government and, I am convinced, we will decide on the insurance of ships and relevant companies that will go along the "grain corridor," – the prime minister noted.

At the same time, he noted that the risks regarding the Black Sea are obvious because if the Russians do decide to sink a merchant ship, it will "colossally complicate our work with partners regarding the grain corridor."

"That's why, of course, we need the support of partners to prevent this from happening. But we insure such risks at the expense of our budget," the prime minister added.

For reference:

The Black Sea Grain Agreement was signed in July 2022. Putin has repeatedly threatened not to extend the agreement, demanding the lifting of sanctions and obstacles to Russian exports.

On July 17, the Kremlin refused to extend the Grain Agreement. The press secretary of the Russian dictator Dmytro Peskov said that the agreements regarding the Grain Initiative have actually been terminated.

After that, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, offered Türkiye and the UN to continue the Grain Initiative in a tripartite format. The state is considering the possibility of transporting food through the territorial waters of Romania and Bulgaria.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation warned on July 19 that any countries sending ships to Ukrainian ports would be viewed as being involved in the war.

At the same time, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said that Russia would resume its participation in the Grain Agreement only if the West fulfills a number of demands.

Moscow's main demand was to restore Rosselkhozbank's access to the SWIFT interbank network, from which the EU expelled Russia in June 2022 for the invasion of Ukraine.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent a letter to Putin in which he proposed to extend the agreement for several months to give the EU time to connect the Russian bank to SWIFT.

In addition, Russia began to threaten civilian ships transporting food from Ukrainian ports openly. In recent days, the Kremlin has turned the Black Sea into a danger zone.

In turn, Ukraine promised to respond in kind to Russia's threats to sink ships.

On July 31, it became known that the Israeli ship was the first to break through the grain blockade of the aggressor country and was heading to Ukraine. The ship's route passed through the Black Sea. It was accompanied by an American anti-ship aircraft and a drone.