Turkey has announced the renewal of a deal with Russia allowing the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports, hours before it was due to expire.
Russian President Vladimir Putin travelled to Crimea on Saturday as the deal was agreed to mark the ninth anniversary of the peninsula’s annexation from Ukraine.
The visit came one day after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader, accusing him of war crimes.
Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said that the grain extension had been agreed for 120 days.
However, the RBC media outlet quoted Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov as saying Russia has notified all parties to the Black Sea grain deal that it has been extended for 60.
The pact, which was brokered with Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkey in July, was renewed for 120 days in November.
It was aimed at addressing a global food crisis, which was partly fuelled by Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and Black Sea blockade.
Speaking in the western city of Canakkale, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that an extension had been won through talks with the two sides. However, he did not specify the length of the agreed extension.
While Russia had previously called for renewing the deal for 60 days, half the term of the previous renewal period, Ukraine insisted on a 120-day renewal.
In a Twitter post, Mr Kubrakov expressed his gratitude to UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres, the UN, Mr Erdogan, Minister Hulusi Akar, and all their partners for sticking to the agreements.
Putin in Crimea
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a move that much of the world criticised.
Mr Putin visited the Black Sea port city of Sevastopol with the Moscow-appointed local governor Mikhail Razvozhayev, images broadcast by Russian state TV showed.
He visited an art school and a children’s centre that are part of a project to develop a historical park on the site of an ancient Greek colony, Russian state news agencies said.
Russia has shown no intention of giving up the region. On Friday, Mr Putin stressed the importance of holding Crimea.
“Security issues take top priority for Crimea and Sevastopol now,” Mr Putin said, referring to Crimea’s largest city. “We will do everything needed to fend off any threats.”
Ukraine has demanded that Russia withdraw from the peninsula and the areas it has occupied since last year.
Grain deal eased crisis
The extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative agreement is expected to ease concerns about food shortages and the rising cost of food caused by supply disruptions.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year meant Ukraine's Black Sea ports were blocked by warships.
But a deal brokered by Turkey and the UN in July 2022, signed by both Kyiv and Moscow, has allowed for the safe passage of exports of grain shipments.
Ukraine was one of the world's leading grain producers.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative has helped to ease the crisis triggered by the conflict.
The original terms referred to by Mr Akar, according to the deal, were for the 120-day extensions to be automatically renewed for the same period unless one of the parties says otherwise.
The initial agreement was extended in November until March 18. It should in theory be extended another 120 days after it expires at 11.59pm Istanbul time on Saturday (12.59am UAE).
UN hopes 'ships will flow'
“We very much hope that the initiative will continue and the ships will continue to flow,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Mr Guterres.
“Our further stance will be determined upon the tangible progress on normalisation of our agricultural exports, not (in) words, but in deeds,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin, who led the Russian delegation during Monday's talks with UN officials
Mr Kubrakov said that “Russia's position to extend the deal only for 60 (days) contradicts the document signed by Turkey and the UN”.
“We're waiting for the official position of (the UN and Turkey) as the guarantors of the initiative,” he said on Twitter.
More than 29.1 million tonnes of grain have left Ukraine's ports since the original deal was signed last July, while only a fraction of the 260,000 tonnes of Russian fertiliser stored in European ports has been released.
In the meantime, wheat and corn prices have returned to their prewar levels, although some oilseeds such as rapeseed and sunflower are much lower.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
'The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting up a Generation for Failure'
Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, Penguin Randomhouse
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
