Ukraine will ask Turkey and the United Nations this week to start talks to extend the Black Sea grain deal, seeking an extension of at least one year that would also include Mykolaiv ports, a senior Ukrainian official told Reuters on Wednesday.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, implemented with the mediation of the UN and Turkey in July last year, made it possible to export grain from three Ukrainian ports. The deal was extended in November and expires on March 18 unless an extension is agreed.

“This week we will issue an official proposal on the need to work on the extension,” Deputy Minister of Reconstruction of Ukraine Yuriy Vaskov said in an interview. He added that the exact date of the talks, which were previously held in Turkey, has not yet been set.

“We will ask … to extend it not for 120 days, but at least for a year, because the Ukrainian and world agricultural markets should be able to plan these export volumes in the long term,” Mr. Vaskov said.

He also indicated that Ukraine would insist on increasing the number of inspection teams, “so that there are no queues of ships waiting for inspection.”

Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of delaying inspections of ships carrying Ukrainian agricultural commodities, resulting in reduced shipments and losses for traders. Russia denies the accusations, saying that it is fulfilling all its obligations under the grain export agreement.

Mr. Vaskov said that since November the situation with inspections has not changed and there were only three inspection teams from the Russian side.

“There is no positive dynamics. At the same time, the UN, Turkey and Ukraine are ready to conduct 40 inspections a day if necessary. And there is such a need – about 140 ships are waiting for inspection,” he said.

Source: Reuters.