grain via the Black Sea is being abused, including by smugglers, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.
Russian experts involved in checking ships sailing under the July agreement are being pressured by an “artificial”
crowding of vessels in the port of Istanbul, the ministry said in a
statement on Friday. The goal, it believes, is to push them into less
rigorous checks of cargos.
Since the route was launched, “over
70 ships were detained. Some of them were banned for the systematic
violation of the rules of navigation in the maritime corridor and
attempts to smuggle items in specially designed secret compartments,” the statement noted." RT
