First grain shipments from Ukraine can be made this week

Speaking at a news conference on July 25th, Kubrakov said there was no limit defined in the agreement concerning the amount of wheat that could be transported from Ukraine.

“We expect the deal to start functioning in the following days... We are preparing for everything to begin this week”, said Kubrescu, who led the Ukraine delegation in talks on reaching the agreement in Istanbul last week.

Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Yuri Vasyukov added to the same conference that after Chornomorsk, remittances will follow by Odessa and Povdeny.

The deadline for all three ports to function is within two weeks, he added.

Under the grain deal, Ukrainian grain exports from three Black Sea ports would return to the pre-war levels of about 5 million tonnes a month.

Russian missile attacks in Odessa on July 24th have raised questions about Russia's commitment to the deal, but Kubrakov said technical preparations for launching exports of agricultural products from ports continue.