Zimbabwe views the possible arrival of Russian fertilizer companies interested in investing in the country as an opportunity to turn the Southern African nation into a continental fertilizer center, Monica Mutsvangwa, minister of information, publicity and broadcasting of Zimbabwe, told Sputnik Africa.
According to the minister, Zimbabwe would like Russian investors to make Harare "a hub where other African countries can actually benefit by getting cheaper and good farm implements and fertilizers."
Mutsvangwa stressed that Russia's high level of fertilizer production, as well as good relations between the countries, will contribute to this goal.
"We know the Russians are very good at producing fertilizer and other inputs which are required for agriculture. And this will give us a good opportunity for Russian companies to come to Zimbabwe, considering the good relationship between the two countries," Mutsvangwa noted.
Another important factor is that Zimbabwe "has some of the inputs for producing fertilizer, for example, phosphorus."
For Russian fertilizer operations in Zimbabwe, the minister pointed out, "the most important thing" is to find an alternative payment system, in view of export sanctions imposed on Moscow.
"We would like, obviously, these sanctions to be removed because the fertilizer which we are accessing at the moment is much more expensive and we would like to really produce together with the Russian companies so that at least our fertilizers can actually go down in terms of the price," Mutsvangwa underlined.
Apart from that, Mutsvangwa remarked that the Southern African country, through the president's command agriculture input scheme, has been able to achieve household food sustainability, however, "certainly we need more fertilizers and other inputs."
In May, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a phone conversation with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa that the Russian side was ready to supply substantial quantities of grain and fertilizers to African states in need, including on a free-of-charge basis.