On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that Ukrainian grain exports are plunging ahead of the talks this week in Istanbul on extending the Black Sea grain deal.

Following the failure of the parties to reach an agreement on authorizing new ships to join the Black Sea exports, daily vessel inspections have been disrupted, causing grain deliveries to be delayed.

The shipping complications come on the heels of new restrictions imposed by the European Union ahead of the next harvest, on the import of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed, and sunflower seed to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

Earlier in the month, the European Commission announced “exceptional and temporary preventive measures on imports” of the four items designed to “alleviate logistical bottlenecks” which had arisen in those states, for at least a month.

Roman Slaston, CEO of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club said in an interview with Bloomberg, “Many farmers and big agricultural producers are concerned about their ability to export their grain and oilseed products because we see these issues on both sides.”

The UN and Türkiye had brokered an agreement last year which facilitated the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea safely despite the ongoing war in Ukraine. As part of the deal, Western countries had promised to unblock Russian grain and fertilizer shipments to other countries. However according to Russia the Western states never followed through on their end of the bargain. In March, Russia signed on to an agreement to extend the deal by 60 days, to May 18th, however the Kremlin warned it would not extend the deal further unless the West unblocked its shipments in accordance with the agreement.

As the world’s largest wheat exporter, Russia has repeatedly sought to have the US and EU lift sanctions which are preventing its export of produce and fertilizers. Moscow has also sought the opening of an ammonia pipeline.

This week, officials from Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye and the UN will begin negotiations in Istanbul, regarding the extension of the Black Sea grain deal, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

In the meantime, according to UN data, Ukrainian Black Sea exports have fallen by over a quarter in April compared to March, and according to data from Ukrainian consulting firm UkrAgroConsult, transit flows by road and rail to the Eastern EU states have also fallen to the lowest levels in 10 months.