A spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that there is a high chance that the first grain-exporting ship will leave Ukraine on August 1.
"If all (details) are completed by tomorrow, it seems like there is a high possibility that the first ship will leave port tomorrow," spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told Turkey's Kanal 7 television on July 31. "We will see ships leaving ports the next day at the latest."
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said earlier this week that Ukraine was ready to start shipping millions of tons of grain sitting at its southern ports and is waiting for Turkey and the United Nations, which have agreed to oversee the shipments, to start the operation.
Kyiv and Moscow signed agreements with Turkey and the UN on July 22 to free up three of Ukraine's ports -- Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhne -- which had been blockaded since Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine in late February.
The deal cleared the way for millions of tons of grain and fertilizers to be shipped as much of the world teeters on the brink of a major food crisis.
Ukraine and Russia are two of the world's largest grain exporters.
Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter on July 31 that Ukraine's grain harvest could be half its usual amount this year due to the ongoing war with Russia.
"Ukrainian harvest this year is under the threat to be twice less," Zelenskiy wrote in English.
"Our main goal -- to prevent global food crisis caused by Russian invasion. Still grains find a way to be delivered alternatively," he added.
In the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolayiv, the owner of one of Ukraine's top grain-producing and exporting companies was killed in shelling that took place from July 30 to 31.
The shelling killed Oleksiy Vadatursky, founder and owner of the agricultural company Nibulon, and his wife at their home, Mykolayiv Governor Vitaliy Kim announced on Telegram.
Headquartered in Mykolayiv, a strategically important city that borders the Russian-occupied Kherson region, Nibulon, specializes in the production and export of wheat, barley. and corn, The company maintains its own fleet and shipyard.
President Zelenskiy described Vadatursky's death as "a great loss for all of Ukraine."