Türkiye, Romania and Bulgaria began demining the Black Sea

The goal of the initiative coming from the Turkish authorities is to ensure the safety of navigation, including the safety of cargo ships used to export Ukrainian grain.

An agreement to jointly combat sea mines in the Black Sea was concluded by the authorities of Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria in January.

Despite the fact that Ankara, Bucharest and Sofia are members of NATO, the management of the naval forces of these countries is carried out outside the framework of the alliance, including in order to avoid an escalation of tensions in relations with Russia, Bloomberg notes.

 Shipping in the Black Sea, where explosive devices continue to drift, has faced difficulties and security threats since the outbreak of military conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In particular, in December 2023, a ship flying the flag of Panama, which was heading to load grain at one of the Danube ports, was blown up by a mine.

After the collapse of the grain deal in August 2023, Ukraine opened its own sea corridor in the Black Sea, which contributed to the growth of exports. Despite this, the new trade route is inferior to the previous ones both in terms of the permissible volume of traffic and in terms of safety, Bloomberg notes.