Moscow says no progress on removing obstacles for Russian agricultural exports

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said on Saturday that there is no progress on removing obstacles for Russian agricultural exports under the Black Sea grain deal.

He was speaking at a news conference in Geneva following another round of talks with Rebeca Grynspan, the secretary-general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

Vershinin recalled that Russia's bank specializing in agricultural transactions remains barred from SWIFT.

"We want to get a real result for Russia. For the sake of this result, we are ready to continue the dialogue, but this dialogue must be effective. So far, unfortunately, it is not," he said.

Russia has sought the removal of obstacles to its fertilizer exports, namely banking restrictions.

Asked about the resumption of fertilizer supplies via Tolyatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline, Vershinin said the explosion of the pipeline made it impossible to say when the deliveries will begin.