UN chief appoints new coordinator for Black Sea Grain Initiative

A team of representatives from the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) inspects on the first grain-laden ship leaving Ukraine on the northwestern entrance of the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, Türkiye, Aug. 3, 2022. (Turkish Defense Ministry/Handout via Xinhua)

Abdullah Abdul Samad Dashti of Kuwait succeeds Amir Mahmoud Abdulla of Sudan, who served as the UN coordinator since August 2022, according to the UN chief's office.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced Wednesday the appointment of Abdullah Abdul Samad Dashti of Kuwait as the new UN coordinator for the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Dashti succeeds Amir Mahmoud Abdulla of Sudan, who served as the UN coordinator since August 2022, according to a press note from the UN chief's office.

Dashti was the military defense attache of Kuwait in Belgium and the Kuwaiti mission's representative to NATO from 2019 to 2020, and retired in 2021 from the Kuwaiti armed forces at the rank of vice admiral.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative was launched by Ukraine, Türkiye, Russia and the United Nations in July 2022, to enable the resumption of exports from Ukraine of grain, foodstuffs, and fertilizer, including ammonia, through a safe maritime humanitarian corridor.