Lebanon: buyer refuses to accept first grain shipment to leave Ukraine

A Lebanese buyer has refused to accept the first shipment of grain exported from Ukraine since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukraine crisis, the Ukrainian Embassy in Beirut said on Monday. The refusal was due to the delay in delivery of more than five months.

“The shipment supplier is now looking for another buyer who could be in Lebanon’s city of Tripoli, or in another country or port,” explained the embassy.

The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni carrying 26,000 tons of corn left the Ukrainian port of Odessa on 1 August. This followed a UN-backed deal signed by Turkiye, Russia and Ukraine to allow Ukrainian grain exports to leave the country.

The Turkish Ministry of Defence announced the arrival of the Razoni in the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul on Tuesday evening. It was inspected by members of the Joint Coordination Centre, before heading on towards its destination.

Turkiye, Russia, Ukraine and the UN signed the “Black Sea Grain Initiative” last month during a meeting hosted by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The agreement guarantees to secure grain exports stranded in Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea.

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