Russia to Continue Supplies of Grain, Fertilizers to Africa, Deputy Prime Minister Says
© AP Photo / Andrew Kravchenko
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia increased the quantity of agricultural product supplies it provided to 101 friendly nations last year, including several African countries that received grain deliveries entirely free of charge.
Russia remains a reliable supplier of agricultural products and will continue humanitarian supplies of grain and fertilizers to Africa, Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko said in an interview with Sputnik.
"Russia remains the world’s breadwinner and reliable supplier. As you know, the first shipments of humanitarian aid containing grain crops and fertilizers have already been sent to African countries. They will continue," Abramchenko said.
The deputy prime minister said that the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently "openly admitted that Western sanctions on food and mineral fertilizers, logistics and payments are leading to aggravation of the problem of world hunger."
"And this trend in the world will only grow," she said.
President Vladimir Putin announced Russia's intentions to send free grain as humanitarian aid to six African countries on the World Food Program list at the Russia-Africa summit in July 2023. The first two ships with wheat, 25,000 tonnes each for Somalia and Burkina Faso, left Russia in mid-November, Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said.
Humanitarian supplies of fertilizers to African countries are now carried out by the Uralchem company. The first such batch of 20,000 tonnes was sent from the Netherlands at the end of November 2022. Overall, the company planned to donate about 300,000 tonnes of mineral fertilizers to developing countries. Consignments of fertilizers have already been sent to Malawi, Kenya, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe.
