Russian authorities and dignitaries from the Kyiv government are to sign Friday the first deal since the beginning of the war in February. Brokered by Türkiye, the belligerent states will agree in Istanbul on safe corridors through the Black Sea for the export of Ukrainian wheat from its own ports.
A first cargo ship loaded with grain has left the Russian-occupied Ukrainian port of Berdyansk, a local official announced on Thursday, after Russia said the port had been de-mined and was ready to resume grain shipments.
Sea mines and stranded crews in Black Sea ports is another consequence of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Both Turkey and Romania navies have reported neutralizing sea mines, or rather anchor mines, since they do not float on the surface but rather just beneath it with an anchor supporting the floating device.
Turkey has said that the situation in Ukraine has become a “war”, a declaration that authorized Ankara to activate the Montreux Convention which limits Russian war vessels from entering the Black Sea, through the strategic straits of the Bosporus and Dardanelle which link with the Mediterranean.
A total of 32 countries began conducting military exercises in the Black Sea Monday, despite sharp criticism from Russia. The US and Ukraine are leading the “Sea Breeze” drills. They are scheduled to last for two weeks, according to the US military.
Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU). These three adjectives ultimately jeopardize the whole of the fisheries sector. IUU fishing can destroy the livelihoods of fishing communities, harm food security and nutrition, damage fair local and international trade, and often give way to unsafe and indecent working conditions, sometimes even crime.
Port authorities tried to right a capsized ship on Monday to rescue thousands of sheep trapped below deck in the Black Sea off Romania. The Palau-registered Queen Hind flipped onto its side shortly after leaving Romania's Midia port en route to Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Its crew, most of them Syrians, were rescued.
Russia’s gas giant Gazprom said in a release on Monday it had signed a deal with Eni, Wintershall and EDF on the purchase of 50% of shares in South Stream Transport BV. Thus, Gazprom will be a 100% owner of the company.