Russia-Odesa Ammonia Pipeline May Reopen Under Grain Deal - Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th November, 2022) The newly-extended Black Sea Initiative includes necessary legal basis for relaunching the ammonia pipeline for the export of the gaseous substance from the Russian city of Tolyatti to Ukraine's Odesa, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin told Sputnik on Thursday.

The grain deal, originally scheduled to expire on November 19, was renewed for another 120 days on Wednesday. It is part of a UN- and Turkey-brokered package agreement that unblocks exports of Ukrainian and Russian grain and fertilizer in the Black Sea. Some Western media have reported that the deal allegedly did not cover exports of Russian ammonia via the Tolyatti-Odesa pipeline, shut down since February 24.

"There is the documentary basis for the ammonia export, including through the Black Sea.

In particular, it includes the Tolyatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline," Vershinin said.

The pipeline can and should be relaunched without preconditions, as it is "an exclusively commercial project," the diplomat said.

Asked if the UN gave any guarantees that the Tolyatti-Odesa pipeline would be relaunched, Vershinin said that unhindered exports of ammonia was an item in the original package agreement on grain and fertilizer signed in Istanbul on July 22.

Vershinin added that 12 million tonnes of fertilizers can be produced annually with raw materials transported through the Tolyatti-Odesa pipeline, which is enough to grow food for about 100 million people. The Tolyatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline is capable of transporting up to 2.5 million tons of raw materials per year.